Posts filed under 'biblical lifestyles'
by David Sliker
It’s the midpoint of 2010. Normally, a typical year surprises you by its unexpected speed - you look up, and suddenly it’s June. You think, “where did the time go?” The surprise is normally knit to how the mundane realities of living life “pulling weeds in the heat of the day” - meaning the simplicity of the rigors of chores, bills, and other life details - make life feel like it’s creeping by sometimes. It’s easy to forget that life is a “vapor” that rapidly diminishes and passes swiftly by.
This year, however, I haven’t felt that way. The days are rocketing by with a speed that is, at times, overwhelming. It’s not what I expected from this season of my life - I entered 2010 with great joy, having shed every title and position I’ve held over the years at IHOP-KC. I had no “official” responsibilities, no official title, and as the year went on, no office space. The year was one that was supposed to be an unofficial “sabbatical” year of me, Jesus, and the prayer room - much like it was in the early days of 2002, when I first arrived at the prayer room.
I remember those days so vividly - for the first time in my life in full-time ministry, I had no title, no responsibilities, and lots of time to enjoy God and be enjoyed by Him. It was the most gloriously exhilarating season of my life: brand new on staff at IHOP, no one knew me, no one expected anything from me, and I could enjoy long hours in the prayer room, at teaching services on weekends, and in the word. Of course, the “crown jewel” of that season for me was that my wife was pregnant, the IHOP staff went on a 50-day fast together, and the last 12 nights of that fast were dedicated to gathering to hear IHOP’s prophetic history - which for years we called the “Encountering Jesus” series. I never thought I’d have a season like that again.
Of course, when I resigned from my roles at IHOP in September of last year, I was sure that I was headed for another glorious season of me n’ God. My wife is even pregnant again! Due in September, it was almost poetic to me as I looked back to those months with fondness. What I learned is that you can never go back - that yesterday’s season and yesterday’s encounter is what it is, what it was, and what it had to be. It was unique and can never be recaptured or relived. It’s not supposed to be - for in the infinite creativity and beauty of God lies a wonderful propensity to show you how different two similar seasons can be in His plan for your life. Thus we forget what lies behind and press on towards the goal of knowing Christ Jesus - and all of the wonderful surprises He has in store for us today.
The greatest surprise of this season came on two separate dates: November 11, 2009 and January 29, 2010. In November the Lord apprehended my with His Spirit in the most unexpected and glorious way - my testimony is below. In January, He commissioned me in the most unexpected and glorious way. The IHOPU Student Awakening changed my life in many ways, accelerated my life in others, and was the final means of transitioning me to the next season of my life. I’ll always look back on these days with awestruck wonder and tender gratitude. The Lord saved me. He delivered me. He filled me with joy and reset me into His purposes. Then, in January, He began the next phase: weekends in Atlanta. Three times a month I travel to the house of prayer in Atlanta to be with my friend, Billy Humphrey, as we lead Awakening (renewal) meetings together. A binder thick with testimonies declares the reality of the power of God to heal and set captives free there. It’s been glorious.
As that phase of my new season in God began I found myself teaching Romans, Kingdom of God, and the Excellencies of Christ at the Forerunner School of Ministry. Thus my heart, wide open and tender, was being filled with the truth of His righteousness and mercy set upon me, His plans and purposes for me, and His beauty and glory apart from me. The Holy Spirit would regularly break into our classes - once it spilled over into the class next door, and then over again into the class at the end of the hall until three-quarters of the student body was encountering the Lord in power and deliverance related to His love for us. To be able to so fully give myself to teaching, preaching, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit is one of the most unique gifts the Lord has ever given my weak little heart, growing in His love.
Once we transitioned to summer, the first wave of over 1000 teenagers began to descend on us at our Awakening Teen Camp. 1000 more came this past weekend for our Fascinate High School Conference. The Lord spoke clearly to me, “watch as I show you My zeal for the next generation.” I went into the conference with great expectations, which the Lord promptly exceeded. I cannot wait for the second conference (which will fill up fast) at the end of July. Also waiting for me at the end of July are three other youth conferences, one here in Kansas City and two in California (southern and northern!). It’s like, in this season, the Lord is reminding me over and over again what He has for me in the days ahead: preaching, teaching, writing, power encounters, teens, and Asians - particularly the Koreans and the Chinese.
Just today my friend Julie Meyer told me about a dream she had about me recently: that after a long season of driving in circles (with a big smile on my face), I finally had parked the car, got out, and put the keys in my pocket. I had found a place of rest, she said, doing exactly in this season what I was supposed to be doing. She’s exactly right - while this season is similar yet altogether unlike those months I enjoyed in 2002 with Jesus, I have never felt so content and settled into the call of God on my life. For the Lord has brought me full circle - my place of greatest satisfaction hasn’t come from the labors of my hands, my fulfillment does not come from ministry and my impact on others; it comes from being loved and enjoyed by Jesus. The labors that have flowed from that place of enjoyment are, in so many ways, incidental. Important, but beside the point. He loves me. He enjoys me. I am victorious and successful, right here, right now, today - and forever, because of that simple truth.
June 30th, 2010
by Billy Humphrey
Something unusual has happened here at IHOP-Atlanta the last few weekends. It’s difficult to explain any encounter with the Lord. You never want to hype or overstate anything. But simultaneously you want to credibly do justice to what has happened. As I considered how I might faithfully relate what the Lord has been doing in our midst, I was reminded of Jesus’ words to John the Baptist’s disciples, “Go and tell … the things you have seen and heard…” (Luke 7:22). So here it goes…
Last weekend we called special renewal services because we felt impressed that the Lord was moving in an unusual way. On Tuesday the same presence of God we felt the previous weekend was released in our all-staff prayer meeting. Many were encountered by the Holy Spirit, most notably the children. The next day in our school, the classes were interrupted by the power of God. Many of the children experienced the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit in profound ways. As I went to the school building to see what was happening, I was greeted with the tangible presence of the Lord and my legs began to physically tremble. I entered a classroom that had been overtaken by the Holy Spirit to find 20 or so 4th & 5th graders in travail with tears streaming down their faces, crying out for God to come in power and revival. It was fearsome. You can’t teach a thing like that. It was a sovereign in-breaking of the Holy Spirit.
On Friday David Sliker and Brent Steeno from IHOP-KC flew in to help lead the weekend’s meetings. That evening as we gathered there was a real sense of expectation. The room was full and you could sense the spiritual hunger. In moments the presence of God filled the place and the power of the Holy Spirit was in manifestation. Jesus was doing it again. Friday through Sunday night we experienced the same outpouring of the Holy Spirit we had experienced the previous weekend. Many were touched with the power of the Holy Spirit. Many were weeping, laughing, falling, trembling and shaking under the Spirit’s power. Many testified of physical and emotional healings.
The physical healing included healing from Mononucleosis and Hypothyroidism. A fractured ankle was instantly healed as was a broken toe and hemorrhoids.
My favorite physical healing was a lady whose eyesight was healed. I got to witness her eyesight being restored firsthand. She had received prayer on Saturday at which time her eyes began to burn but she did not have an immediate change in her vision. Our staff member encouraged her to continue to believe that she received her healing. She came back to the meeting on Sunday night with her eyes still burning. She told me she purposely left her “coke-bottle” glasses at home, believing her healing would manifest. Toward the end of the meeting she realized that she could read the video screens. She came over to tell her testimony with her husband standing by her side. I asked her to read a paper with 12pt font at arms length. She began slowly and then read several sentences breaking down in tears as she read. She was completely healed! Her name is FAITH! Her husband and I high-fived and hugged as he confirmed that she could’ve never read that page without her glasses.
We also received multiple testimonies of emotional healing and deliverance, including deliverance from depression, self-hatred and the emotional scars from sexual abuse. Many, many experienced a dramatic refreshing and renewing in the love of God.
Another sweet testimony came from a young girl named Angel. She told us that she had not been to church very much. In fact the only church she had ever been to was one where, “You weren’t allowed to talk.” On Sunday night she walked into the house of prayer and almost immediately began to weep. She said the people were so joyful and she wanted to know what she needed to do to experience this same joy. The friend who brought her, shared the gospel with her and Angel immediately gave her life to Jesus! As I prayed for her she began to shake and weep as the presence of the Holy Spirit flowed over her. It was absolutely beautiful.
God has given us a prophetic word that He has opened a fountain of refreshing over IHOP-Atlanta and that He is changing the International House of Prayer to the International House of Presence. I believethis is what we are experiencing right now. A fountain has been opened and living water is pouring forth. This morning as I walked into the building I immediately felt the weighty presence of the Holy Spirit upon me. Even now as I write this blog, I sense His presence, draping me like a heavy cloak.
I don’t know how long this season of visitation will last. But I do know that we want to give the Holy Spirit as much room as possible so He can move as He pleases. Therefore, we are extending the renewal services for at least the next two weekends, the 12th – 14th and 19th – 21st. David Sliker from IHOP-KC has agreed to make trips to Atlanta to serve the Lord’s purpose in this outpouring for as long as the Lord is moving by His Spirit. All I can say is “More LORD!”
Service times are:
- Friday @ 7pm
- Saturday & Sunday @ 6pm
Please forward this blog to whomever you think is interested to know about this outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Go to www.ihop-atlanta for information and directions.
February 9th, 2010
This is a blog post from billyhumphrey.com written by my friend Billy, who is the director of the International House of Prayer - Atlanta. In it, he describes what happened to us last weekend as we were ministering together for a House of Prayer Leadership Summit. I have such faith and excitement in my heart as I eagerly wait to see what the Lord is going to do next in America. These are some of the most exciting days of my life and the thrill of watching Jesus minister with power and tenderness is worth the wait.
by Billy Humphrey
How do I explain what happened this weekend? It’s nearly impossible to communicate in a blog, but I will do my best.
Let me start by saying that I have a great distaste for hype or self-promotion. I have a great value for reality and truth, especially when it comes to testifying of the works of the Lord. I dont’ think exaggeration helps anyone. With that said, I hope what I share next stirs your hunger and faith.
This past weekend at IHOP-Atlanta we had a leadership summit with about 70 leaders from around the nation. We were gathering to receive strategy and impartation to build the houses of prayer. My good friend David Sliker, from IHOP-KC, has ministered with me and others in this event for the past five years. This year was different because He and I were the only speakers.
When I picked up Dave from airport Friday afternoon, he was deeply experiencing the Holy Spirit’s presence. He told me that when he woke up Friday morning he felt the Lord resting on him powerfully. That night at the summit it was evident to me that Dave was carrying a deposit from the IHOPU Student Awakening services in KC. The presence of the Lord was rich.
The next day the Lord began to deeply minister by His Spirit to the people. Dave said to me, “I think it’s going to blow up tonight.” I also felt like the Lord was building towards a climax on Saturday night. I felt led to speak on hunger for revival. Just before the service Dave had a vision of angels holding buckets of coals of fire and wine over the building, ready to pour out the power of God on the gathering.
When I gave the altar call the leaders responded with great hunger to see a breakthrough of the power of God in their regions. When I asked the Lord to release His fire, the fire of God fell on the gathering. Many were groaning and shaking under the power of God. Dave then came up and asked the Lord to release the refreshing wine of His Spirit. Within a few moments the room was engulfed in the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit. God coursed through the place for the next several hours. Many were weeping, laughing, falling shaking and experiencing the refreshing touch of God’s love upon their soul. We didn’t get out of there until 12:30 AM. God’s love was so real and His presence so tangible. I didn’t get to sleep that night until after 2:30.
The scenes and experiences were so familiar. I have been in many revival & renewal services in my life. I am so thankful how God moved. I couldn’t help but wonder if He was doing something that might be lasting. I figured we would know if something was really happening after Sundays services.
The next morning our normal Sunday AM crowd was joined by the leadership summit crowd. The room was full and the worship was really sweet. During worship Dave had a profound encounter with the Lord. The Lord told him that He had opened a fountain over IHOP-Atlanta and the the Lord was going to transform the International House of Prayer into the International House of Presence. Once we prayed for the Holy Spirit to come, the same power that we experienced Saturday night manifested again all across the room. The service went from 10:00am til about 1:30pm. God was moving. I was filled with expectancy as to what the evening service might hold. I could feel myself beginning to believe that maybe God was up to something more than just a good weekend of services. The risk of faith can seem so feeble. But the Lord loves it when we dare to believe in His greatness.
You have to understand, I REALLY LOVE a move of the Spirit of God. But I am also exceedingly jealous for the real deal. I don’t want to call every spark a bonfire. I seriously petitioned the Lord as to what He had in store for us. Could it be that God was opening a fountain of refreshing here in Atlanta?
Suffice to say, last night’s service was amazing. The power of God broke upon us in waves. The Holy Spirit blew through the house of prayer as many were drunk in the Spirit and refreshed in the love of God. 15-20 people were instantly healed of various sicknesses and infirmities. When I left at 12:30AM, 25 – 30 people were still here. Most were on the floor, drunk in the spirit, overwhelmed with the Presence of God.
At some point during the meeting I felt the Lord invite me to call additional meetings to make room for the fountain of the Lord to continue to flow and refresh us. Dave and our senior leadership team were unanimous that we should continue the meetings. Therefore we are going to hold more renewal services this weekend at IHOP-Atlanta. Dave has agreed to fly back to Atlanta this weekend to help serve what the Lord is doing here.
Service Times are:
- Friday, Feb 5th @7pm
- Saturday, Feb 6th @ 6pm
- Sunday, Feb 7th @ 6pm.
As I am writing this the Lord’s presence is resting upon me. I am so hungry for an outbreak of the Holy Spirit in Atlanta. If you are hungry for a move of God in your life I want to invite you to join us this weekend. Who knows what God will do. I know this, my faith is stirred to see an outbreak of God’s power engulf and overwhelm our city and nation. I want to engage with whatever the Lord is doing unto this end.
We don’t know if we will continue past this weekend, we just want to show up with hunger and ask the Holy Spirit to come. Come join us.
Would you forward this blog to those you know that might be interested. I believe God wants to open up a fountain of refreshing and turn it into a river of fire that will birth revival and reformation.
February 3rd, 2010
It has been six weeks since the morning of November 11th and the beginning of a new season for the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. Six weeks ago, I walked into the auditorium of our bible school, IHOPU, and experienced the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in a way that was unique to my Christian experience. I spent my morning in our prayer room, hearing rumors and excited talk about something happening down the road. The first report came at 9 AM (as the move of the Spirit was beginning down the road) when I ran into Allen Hood - our bible school president - on the way in. As he described the days leading up to this point and what was happening down the road, I was wide-eyed externally and slightly skeptical internally. It wouldn’t be until later that I would think back to that moment as the premiere illustration of the unperceived gap in my heart between years of asking for a move of the Spirit in prayer and the reality of God’s unexpected answer.
In other words, it struck me later that I had spent much time and energy asking God for something I didn’t really believe would come.
Even when I first walked into the auditorium at 3 PM, I was unsure of what was happening - and whether or not it was for me. I felt a strange pang of loneliness - it was as if I had walked into someone else’s party, uninvited. It was as if everyone else was having fun, but I didn’t know how to join in, who to talk to, or where to stand. It was a critical moment for me - a sudden crucible that had caught me completely off-guard: a holy “pop-quiz” that I desperately wanted to pass. I could feel the temptation to sit in the back, spectate, and analyze; yet there was a competing twinge of desire to jump in and swim with the rest of the students. Pride, hunger, desire, and all of the other silly little emotions and thoughts that seem meaningful in the moment - and are ultimately exposed as petty in hindsight - struck my heart and mind as I calculated my next move.
Wes Hall, the provost of the bible school, was on the platform leading the meeting. Yet it was that exact moment that he walked off the stage for a quick break - and walked right past me. I stopped him. ”Wes!” I shouted above the noise of worship, prayer, and the various other cries and shouts of this particular kind of meeting, “Would you pray for me?” He laid his hand on my chest as a few others joined him. His prayer was prophetic - spot-on prophetic. I didn’t feel much in regards to an increase of the presence of God, just a sudden surge of permission to join in the festivities. Yet, it was significant: my heart was unlocking. I sat and agreed with every prayer and proclamation spoken from the platform: every call for repentance, every issue, every time someone said, “say this with me”, every time someone asked for a response. I said yes every time as I called my family and urged them to get to the auditorium, quickly. The room was filling up.
As the time went on, I felt my heart getting lighter and lighter. I felt surges of joy, playfulness, freedom, and exhilaration that I had not felt in quite some time. I realized in a moment how dry and barren I had been - and how willing I had been to make peace with my barrenness. My wife said it well: you a rarely aware of how dry you are until the Lord gives you a drink. I Also realized that I had been okay with living without the presence and the fullness of the Spirit of God in my life - every area of my life - and how awful that truth was. I had settled into a rut that was killing my heart and leading me into a broken-down place of burnout and depression, content to imagine that breakthrough was decades away and that I could grind my way to it. It was time to adopt a new mindset: in the days of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, breakthroughs and victories (small and large) were now seconds away for me and anyone else hungry enough to stand, wait, and ask.
Where did I lose my playfulness? When did I lose the joy of my salvation? In my zeal to be a faithful servant and diligent shepherd, I had said “yes” to a path that was far below the dreams of God for my life. I had traded down to lay hold of attainable dreams within a limited context of what I could imagine, yet throughout that season my heart longed to be free of the cage I had placed around it. It was in January that the pain began to become unbearable. Still, I managed to find creative ways to cope as I strategized my way forward out of pain and into joy. It was in September that I realized that all of my plans involved some amazing solution falling into place…in the future. None of my plans involved laying hold of life, freedom, breakthrough, and joy…today. I needed to be re-introduced to the immediacy of God, or, as others call it, the “suddenly” of God.
The awestruck anticipation of the “suddenly” of God and the infinite possibilities of what He can do in the next few seconds of a believer’s life was something that had gripped my heart in the early days of my journey as an intercessor. Yet, over the past few years, I had spent so much time considering the future that I had lost a real and vibrant connection with the present. In fact, I had a conversation with my friend Stuart Greaves at 1 PM that day (two hours before I made my way over to the FSM Auditorium) in which I declared, “Breakthrough may come today - but my hopes are knit to the one that is coming just before the return of Christ.” With joy and much laughter, I repented for my self-deceptive statement at 9 PM that evening during the meeting.
The Lord, in His kindness, re-connected today and tomorrow for me in my mind and heart. Oh! The great distance between what I say and preach and what is actually true on an emotional level within my soul. Yet in the great kindness of God - and His kindness has never been more tangible and palpable than these last six weeks - He came when I least expected it and delivered me just in the nick of time.
Things really began to explode in me when I began to pray and minister to the students at the altar. For the first time in my life, I was overwhelmed by the thick, weighty presence of the Holy Spirit in a way that was wholly unique to anything I had ever experienced. I grabbed my friends, Brian Kim and Jesse Engle, and confessed to them that I was drunk in the Holy Spirit. I was filled with the Holy Spirit in a fresh way that caused everything within me to come alive. I had experienced different measures and variations of being filled with the Spirit (as a life-long charismatic believer) - but I had never been intoxicated with His presence like I was on that day.
Since then, that experience has multiplied and expanded. The Spirit of God and the beauty of Jesus are the first things on my mind when I wake up in the morning and the last things on my mind when I go to bed at night. I cannot imagine settling for less than what I am experiencing in God during these past few weeks; I feel as if my testimony changes and improves each day. As the days have gone on, I must report that I have only felt the presence of God increase and intensify - and the testimonies and activity of the Holy Spirit in our midst seems to confirm this. At random times during the day, I will suddenly be overwhelmed by the presence of God or surprised by His activity. I have become, at times, almost unrecognizable in joy and wild abandon by even my close friends. My marriage and family life is better than any time I can recall. My family joins me at the meetings every night from 5 PM to midnight - we have adjusted our entire lives to be in the midst of what God is doing.
Thanks be to God! One of my favorite titles for Jesus has always been “The Living One” from Revelation chapter one. That title has never been more alive within my soul than these days. I am struck with new joy over the future as well - for the apple tree is sweet and His fruit is incomparable today; and my future involves a banqueting table of endless pleasure and delight at His right hand in which everything I am experiencing will be multiplied beyond my wildest imagination. His banner, or His leadership over my life, is truly about love and producing love in my heart beyond anything I could offer Him myself. My own works seem all the more futile, and His work and His leadership seems all the more glorious. Oh! that every believer could experience the fullness of the Living One! (Ephesians 3:16-19)
David Sliker, December 18th, 2009
December 18th, 2009
The Issue of Relevance
Between the elections, the issues of national decline and the hope of resurgence, international disasters, theories, and speculations, we aren’t lacking for conversation topics in America today. Yet we must never forget that the most relevant conversations must still center around the word of God. At times, the scripture frustrates belilevers because they can’t find the answers that they are looking for to the problems of today. The Mormon church capitalizes on this yearning, presenting themselves as a modern day fountain of answers for the seeker. Many Christian churches have no problem either adopting or pioneering the same approach.
The problem is that God often wants to have a different conversation with His church. We want, need, and expect God to come down to our level and address our problems from our perspective. We draw comfort from authors and speakers who deliver on that promise, making the scriptures appear to speak to the details of our life in a manner that helps us feel as if everything will be alright. All throughout the scriptures, however, the truth is that God takes a radically different approach. He consistently and persistently invites us to see things from His perspective and identify with the issues that He sees as the most relevant.
Relevance, then, is best defined in a manner that transcends cultural and personal considerations and rests in the seat and the perspective of the Most Holy One. What is most relevant are the things that are on His mind and carry His concerns. Thus, regardless of the swirl of politics, finance, nature, and life, God’s viewpoint of history and its movement forward by His hand is one that I have become obsessed and consumed with connecting to.
The Book of Joel
With that said, I want to take time to break down the book of Joel and discern its relevance and role in shaping how we live and understand our times for a few weeks. I want to focus in a particular way on the last chapter of the book of Joel, as it is often overlooked - especially in the dialogues about how the story of this age will end. Yet Joel chapter three provides one of the most vivid and spectacular glimpses into how this phase of history will come to a conclusion - and the methodology God will utilize to bring it to a close. How will God birth and ending and a beginning? In what context will He choose to do so? The book of Joel offers some insights into the answer to those questions.
Ultimately, God is unconcerned with the issue of “relevance”. His day is coming, in which He will be the most relevant figure on the planet. The day is coming in which He will not be forgotten or ignored - but He will take the most prominent place in the thoughts, conversations, and lifestyles of the peoples of the whole earth. Some will love Him, many will despise Him, all will fear Him - but none will imagine that He does not exist or that His opinions are irrelevant to their lives. The day of God’s exaltation before the return of His Son the King will be terrifying days to the earth. Thus God is patient and able to wait and watch as He leads and moves history forward to the day in which He will shake everything that can be shaken to get the attention of the peoples.
What will Happen, What to do
The glorious nature of the book of Joel is that is maps out what is to come, yet does not leave us unable to respond. Joel tells us exactly how to respond to prepare for the glory and power of God that will crash in on the nations like a tidal wave. The manner in which God shakes and arrests the attention of the peoples in mercy before He does so to greater, and more destructive measure is unto that end: that, having our full attention before He gets everyone’s attention, we can start living in a radically different way then before.
This is the simple pattern of the book of Joel - and anyone can follow along. First, something bad has happened to you as a nation - and God was the One who sent it. Second, He did so because something far worse is coming to bear down on you, and He wants you to be spared. Third, you may be spared if you passionately obey the “survival strategy” the Lord gives you related to a new and different lifestyle. Fourth, and most spectacularly, giving yourself to this new lifestyle has glorious benefits by the grace of God. Fifth, more than surviving the shaking to come, you will see what the Lord will do in conjunction with the shaking to bring great blessing.
It is the book of Joel, along with many other passages that I will explore in the days to come, that give me hope for my nation in this season of time before the great shaking begins - that a season of restraint and revival can come, and that a nation in our day can turn back to God.
That, in my mind, is of the utmost relevance and importance to the people of God.
David
September 5th, 2008
I’m hoping that there are some out there that can relate to the strangest phenomenon out there when it comes to voluntary physical weakness: the hurty-brain. In my weariness I am astonished how much I use my brain on a daily basis - and then, at certain points in the day, I’m just done using it. I’m wrung out. I’m finding as I meander along on my journey that mental exertion is just as real and taxing (if not more so at times) than physical exertion. To say it differently, me no wanty thinky any more. It’s not like I’ve found some beautiful place of blissful barrenness by which I anticipate the in-breaking of waves of grace to sustain my yearning heart. It’s nothing that awesome. No, my brain just hurts.
It’s so unromatically lethargic in its expression that any romantic notions one could hold about the glory of fasting must be cast aside immediately for the inglorious weirdness of the hurty-brain. I was having a fine time talking to the Lord and articulating thoughts when suddenly, when I opened up this page to journal some heart stuff, WHAM! The ol’ brain gave me a dose of reality. I’m wondering if anyone out there could break down the science of this - are there nerve endings attached to stimuli in my brain that I am completely unaware of? How could there be a correlation to mental exertion and head-hurting, dull, frustrating sludge mixed with a healthy dose of mushy “ugh-ness”? Is there a scientific term for this one-two punch of blah?
Maybe I’ll come to a bit more with clarity and flesh out some of the good heart stuff later, when my head clears a bit. Right now, I’m going to stare off into space a bit and wait for the fog to lift. I am convinced of this, however: the guys out there that don’t connect with the gift of tongues as a helpful gift related to prayer surely don’t fast. In times such as this, I really am thankful that I can lean back in my chair, close my eyes, and mutter words from my spirit to God that edifies my soul and connects me in my weakness to His heart. So, without any further ado, I’ll do just that.
David
July 7th, 2008
I’m listening this morning to Mike’s sermon on spiritual identity and standing victorious as one loved by God. I am loving it; it is refueling the declaration of my heart to stand before Jesus with a heart great in love rather than a life great in accomplishment. The things that John the Apostle cared about versus that which I tend to care about form an instructive and provocative challenge and invitation to aggressively declare again my intention to pursue my exceedingly great reward in God. I want my standard of greatness to be found in the greatness of being loved by God. I want to be fascinated by the beauty of His heart towards me - completely captivated by the movements of His heart towards me.
As such, my prayer is to pursue the primary blessing of the emotions of God touching my heart and not get sidetracked or derailed by the secondary blessings of God that come with favor on my life. I want my heart and my life to be oriented rightly with a value system that exalts Jesus and His love for me as the highest achievement of my life and the reality that sets my course and my emotions. What do I delight in? The answer to that question is the key to my longevity as one who is pursuing a burning heart for God over many decades.
David
June 15th, 2008
My wife totally busted me a week ago.
She looked me square in the eye and said, “You told me that I could tell how your prayer room time is going by the volume of things you write on your website.” I gave her a sheepish smile and sighed. She was, of course, absolutely right. I’ve been backsliding and spending my internal “oil” of devotion to Jesus rather foolishly.
Losing My First Love
The past two months has been a whirlwind of preparation for Awakening Teen Camp (and hundreds of teenagers invading IHOP-KC for five weeks), traveling on weekends for ministry and teaching, building and establishing a city-wide High School Prayer Initiative, and the final press for the upcoming High School Conference: Fascinate 08, to be followed by next year by “He Is Mine 09″ and “In the Lions Den 2010″, culminating with “Headin’ For Heaven 2011″. Not really. We’re actually calling next year’s conference “Fascinate 09″, but that is besides the point here, isn’t it? Well, the diversion of the past few sentences is actually a great metaphor for the entirety of my point. It is astonishing how often really minor things become major diversions.
I want to be clear and precise: while I am thankful for the impact that our conferences have and the fruit they produce, and I am serious about seeing fiery, passionate, revival prayer meetings on High School campuses, I did not sign up for this life to run a conference ministry or be a conference speaker. While seeing prayer return to schools (and, hopefully, in a far more dynamic iteration) is a critical cause in this time and the Lord is opening up many doors, this can never be my primary pursuit. It’s an assignment. I take assignments from the Lord seriously. I will encounter the pleasure and grace of the Lord in significant ways related to the assignments He gives me, and I will find significant rewards related to faithfulness in the little in the age to come.
I can never lose sight of the fact, however, that these are “little things” that the Lord is inviting me into to give me a context for faithfulness. What often happens is that I (and all of humanity) lose perspective along the way. The “little assignments” from the Lord take on an importance that is far more connected to my ego than it is a divine assignment. That’s why I so rarely talk about what I am “doing” for the Lord on this space - these articles form the journal of my heart and a picture of my pursuit. I should probably be a bit more informative at times related to what I am doing and what is happening (and I try to be), if not for my own memory and record later on - but often it’s hard to write about those things. I try to write about the things of the scripture or of the Spirit of God that are moving my heart. That is why I made that observation to my wife (who then later made the observation back to me) - when my heart is connected, thoughts and ideas that interest me about God, life, the world we live in, the scriptures, and well, all manner of surprising things emerge from my mind and heart when I’m in the place of consistent prayer for long hours.
Remembering the First Things
Thus, this is my confession. I’ve been in the prayer room sporadically but intentionally not writing much over the past month or so attempting to regain a flowing, tender heart alive with ideas and zeal for the beauty of God. My heart has been alive to a measure with ideas and plans related to my assignments and ministry, which is fine. It just happens to be far short of the vision that I have established for my life and the pursuit of God that I have declared to be the primary focus of my heart. I do not want to see Jesus face to face and offer Him a vibrant ministry or a completed assignment. I want to see Jesus face to face and give Him a heart established in meekness and obedience fueled by extravagant devotion and affection. I love Jesus. As such, I am happy to serve Him - but at times the details of my service have become the main focus of my time and energy.
That’s why I am excited about an upcoming 40-day fast that Lou Engle has invited many to participate in. For me, it’s a gift from the Lord. In the current season that I am in, there is no good time to go on an extended fast. I had been trying to figure out my schedule and lay out the most “convenient” time to give myself to a long fast. Of course, when that is the mission statement, no such time will ever be found. I was growing discouraged, and I could feel the gnawing and growing desperation in my heart for a time to immerse myself in the scriptures with prayer and fasting. So when Lou proposed to a small group of us the series of fasts that he desired to call folks to, my heart lept. I can’t say I’ve been this enthusiastic about a long fast before.
I’m ready for my heart to be re-oriented again. I can already feel it happening as I say “yes” to God again related to a fresh pursuit of beauty and fascination. The little fasts I do weekly seem to have way more punch then they have over the past year. I have that feeling, emotionally, like I’m going to be seeing a close friend soon that I haven’t seen in a while. If Jesus were strolling down the rocky path on His way to see me, I think I would just start running out to see Him in my great impatience. This has been the consuming desire of my life: I want to see, know, and encounter Jesus. The frantic pace at which I run can often distract me from that end, but I am ready to set myself with particular zeal over forty days to re-establish my heart into it’s forgotten ache. I miss my Friend.
There are so many ways that I relate to Jesus in prayer, study, and proclamation. Jesus the King, Jesus the Judge, Jesus the Shepherd and Jesus the Leader are some of the most familiar ways, because of my end-times studies. I need some time to reconnect with Jesus the Bridegroom - I know that. Yet, the stirring of my heart is to go back to the first things of my walk with Jesus, the first way I learned to relate with Him. I want to find my Friend again, the One who has humbly served and loved me tenderly in my weakness and my lack. What a Friend I’ve had in Jesus! The One who helped a 12-year old new believer overcome major issues of fear and oppression. The One who patently met me in tears, songs, and sermons, at the altar at summer camp and in the trees of my back yard, walking and talking with Him alone.
Regaining the First Things
I want to take 40 days and rest in Him again. So often long fasts that I have done have been related to my calling, my destiny, or my desire to be obedient and faithfully fervent. This one has a different feel for me, one very similar to the second long fast I went on as a believer: the “Fifty Days of Extravagant Devotion” fast of October, 2002, that culminated with the twelve-night prophetic history. I was fairly new at IHOP-KC and the old trailer. I was in heaven. I had prayed (without knowing the IHOP-KC or the Mike Bickle existed) Psalm 27:4 hundreds of times as a young man. I wanted to dwell in the house of the Lord, but I didn’t know how to “dwell” in a church. Suddenly, I had no position, responsibilities, obligations, and lots and lots of time. I grabbed a dank, smelly pillow and curled up daily somewhere near Dana Candler on the far left wall by the drum room. Those were some of the greatest days of my life, and constituted the Lord’s divine “setting” of my heart and life into a 24/7 prayer reality.
I feel the same invitation tugging at my heart again. The “tagline” for this upcoming fast is a pursuit of the glory of the Lord, but I don’t have a typical Charismatic perspective regarding what that means. For me, the glory of the Lord is a personal, intimate thing. There is significant glory, power, and grace found in the place of intimate friendship with Jesus. I long to reach that place in the never-ending pursuit of my life to be consumed by Him. I long to know the beauty of His name. I long to see the beauty of His face. I crave understanding, revelation, and deeper insight into His nature and character. I want to be a true friend.
So it is that I find myself back in the same place that I started from in 2002 in the prayer room. I have much more history, understanding, experience, and, unfortunately, responsibility. I have a dull heart and a deep longing. I am much more alive yet much more aware of my poverty of spirit than I was six years ago. I am much more devoted and much less devoted. I am aware of the dangers of the illusion of fervency and the reputation of zeal. I am deeply dissatisfied and tenderly thankful. It is an interesting and unusual place to be. Most of all, however, I simply miss my Friend. I want to find Him again, and “reset” my heart and my life according to the first things that sparked my pursuit of God as a young boy and my life of prayer as a young man. I want to get “re-oriented” and established in a place of safety and purity of desire and pursuit. I want my ambitions checked, my ego subdued, and my passions focused.
I want God, and God alone.
David Sliker
June 11, 2008
June 11th, 2008
If anyone was qualified to write about the weakness of true discipleship, it was John Mark. As a young man, Mark received a firsthand view of the new movement that would eventually conquer the mighty Roman Empire itself. It is widely believed that it was Mark’s home that hosted the Passover meal in the upper room; it was this very upper room that would later house a night and day prayer meeting in which 120 disciples tarried until the breakthrough of Pentecost. Thus, Mark’s home would be the very one that would be a key meeting place for the early church during the imprisonment of Peter. Upon his miraculous release in Acts 12, it was the first place he went to before moving on to “another place”.
Thus, John Mark’s home was a key hub of early New Testament Christianity. He had the unique privilege of having met or interacted with, early on, every key leader of the Gospels and the book of Acts. It would soon be time for him to be summoned to the forefront of the leadership of the Holy Spirit, as it was time for the movement to begin to move westward, towards the Greek and Macedonian regions. The young eyewitness to history was about to become a part of the story in a dynamic way.
Weakness under pressure
It was John Mark’s cousin, Barnabas, who initially opened the door for him. Barnabas had been sent by the apostolic leadership of the Jerusalem Church a year earlier to Antioch to see what the Holy Spirit was doing in that city - for the reports of His activity there had traveled all the way to Jerusalem, 300 miles to the south. Thus Barnabas made the 10-15 day journey from Israel to what is now the southern tip of modern-day Turkey. Because of the astonishing revival that was taking place there, he knew that more help was needed to serve what the Lord was doing. Of course, it would be a month or more before more apostolic leadership could arrive from Jerusalem.
Thus Barnabas decided to make a shorter journey westward to Tarsus, where a young apostle named Saul had been sent by the brethren a few years earlier because of threats to his life. Barnabas himself had been a part of this process, introducing the new brother to the apostolic leadership after they had received Saul with suspicion. He became a dogged apologist for the faith, frustrating the Hellenists in Jerusalem to the point of attempted murder. Barnabas knew that this young lightning rod was only 100 miles west along the coast, so he made the ten-day trip to Tarsus and back to mobilize Saul for the revival in Antioch. After a year of successful ministry there, the two of them were sent back to Jerusalem with both prophetic information and provision for a coming famine that would strike the Roman Empire.
When the time came for the two of them to return to Antioch, they invited John Mark to go with them. Not long after they arrived, a prayer and fasting meeting preceded the in-breaking of the Holy Spirit to launch a team led by Saul and Barnabas to Cyprus and Southern Turkey, just northwest of Tarsus. Thus John Mark was appointed as their assistant. John Mark, however, had already established a history of fear and trembling under pressure. Most scholars believe that Mark was referring to himself as the naked young man that fled from the Garden of Gethsemane, leaving his expensive linen cloak behind in his terror when young men from the contingent there to arrest Jesus laid hold of him.
Thus Mark did not respond well when the missions endeavor began to move to new frontiers. There were minor challenges in Cyprus, including a “certain sorcerer” named Elymas, who opposed them vehemently. Once they reached the shores of southern Turkey and the port of Perga, the young assistant left the team and returned home, to Jerusalem. This failure to see the journey to the end would haunt Mark a few years later, when Paul and Barnabas set themselves to return to the original cities where they planted churches to strengthen and encourage them. The decision of the Jerusalem Council had been established, and after a season in Antioch it was time to establish the decree among the brethren who had been troubled by Paul’s enemies. There was one problem: Barnabas was determined to take John Mark with them again.
Thus began a conflict that became a contention “so sharp” that they parted ways with one another. Paul chose Silas as his ministry partner - probably having young Timothy in the back of his mind, knowing that he was returning to Derbe and Lystra. Barnabas, of course, took Mark and returned to the place of his previous failure: Cyprus. Whatever Barnabas did on that journey, the results were remarkable.
Finding Simon Peter
John Mark left for Cyprus not long after the Jerusalem Council, which took place sometime near 50-51 AD. What was as remarkable, if not more so, than Barnabas severing ties with Paul, was that Mark signed up again and faced the shame and the sting of his earlier failure. He wanted to press on - though he had departed early from the first missionary journey, he had not quit in relationship to his calling. Thus his next assignment from the Lord fit perfectly.
No one is sure how long Mark traveled with Barnabas, but what is clear is that, sometime over the next decade he ended up joining Simon Peter and becoming his assistant. Theirs was an ironically glorious partnership - two godly men who had struggled with failure and flight under pressure - both knowing firsthand the weakness of discipleship. It is beautiful to me that they served the Lord together. This quote from Papias, the Bishop of Hierapolis in the early 2nd Century, describes their ministry together, most likely in Rome:
“And the presbyter said this. Mark having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately whatsoever he remembered. It was not, however, in exact order that he related the sayings or deeds of Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor accompanied Him. But afterwards, as I said, he accompanied Peter, who accommodated his instructions to the necessities [of his hearers], but with no intention of giving a regular narrative of the Lord’s sayings. Wherefore Mark made no mistake in thus writing some things as he remembered them. For of one thing he took especial care, not to omit anything he had heard, and not to put anything fictitious into the statements.”
I appreciate Edgar Goodspeed’s interpretation of this fragment of information:
“…it seems to bring up the picture of Peter, an old man, visiting Rome in his later years and there preaching in his native Aramaic to the Greek congregation. They must have listened with rapt attention as the old apostle told of his walks and talks with Jesus in Galilee, and of the swift tragedy of betrayal and crucifixion which had followed in Judea. Then suddenly Peter is himself snatched from them and suffers martyrdom. It was one of the most famous of all martyrdoms; St Peter’s marks the supposed spot on the Vatican Hill, and legends like the stirring “Domine, quo vadis?” have gathered about it. It must have filled the Roman congregation with grief. No more would they hear the old man uttering his inimitable reminiscences of Jesus, for with his death a priceless treasure of such memories perished from the earth.
But not entirely. For as the old man had preached, there had stood beside him, of course, now one, now another of them, who could understand his Aramaic speech and immediately translate it into Greek for his Roman hearers. He had used these memories only to illustrate and strengthen his own preaching, and from hearing some incidents over and over a number of times and putting them into Greek, a capable and alert interpreter would come to have a very definite memory of their wording. Out of such memories, Papias means to say, one of these interpreters named Mark composed his gospel.”
What a glorious and awesome ministry John Mark had stumbled into. Peter called Mark “his son” (1 Pet. 5:13). He went from weakness and failure to a key position in the early church - interpreting the stories and sayings about Jesus. Those very accounts and sermons would go on to constitute his gospel, the first such work in church history. It must have seemed to be an unbelievable, yet happy turn of events for the Apostle Paul - who would end his life counting John Mark as one of his most faithful and loyal friends. This would be true for Paul even when all others had fled and abandoned him (2 Tim. 4:11). Much like Simon becoming “the Rock” that Jesus could build upon, a steady and grounded lover of God, John Mark would end his days as one of the most faithful, trustworthy, and bold witnesses for the gospel in all the world.
One of the glorious realities of the weakness of discipleship is that His power is made perfect in the process, and the end of the story is all the more stunning as a result.
David
April 29th, 2008
This article that I wrote a while ago was posted on the Onething site yesterday. It articulates the cry of my heart well - it’s from the “Sermon on the Mount” series that I began a while back, focusing on the Beatitudes.
Blessings to you today as you pursue His heart,
David
April 29th, 2008
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