by RobertCummins | Aug 20, 2014 | 34. The Dance
Psalm 19:1-6
“Be prepared to tell your story” were the only instructions I was given to prepare for a week at Fire Creek Retreat in North Carolina. I and a handful of other men, with no other connection than knowing (or knowing of) Jack Taylor, would be spending the better part of a week together with him apparently with “listening” as our primary occupation. While this seemed a bit odd, the unique circumstances of being invited to this gathering had awakened my curiosity.
I had been aware of Jack Taylor for many years. I had read of an account where his Baptist church in Texas (in the 60’s ?) had experienced an amazing revival and explosive growth that could not have been accounted for without a visitation by God. When I heard him speak in 1996 I heard a man infected with God and His kingdom. He was full of humor, wisdom, passion and freedom. When this internationally known preacher called me from an airport in Florida two years ago, you can be sure I was all ears. I was certainly interested in knowing Jack Taylor better and I was very interested in what he knew about visitations from God and His kingdom of which he was so fond of speaking.
God had rescued me at the tail end of what contemporary history refers to as the Jesus Movement. Like JT’s experience, It was a time of revival that could not really be accounted for without God Himself awakening and satisfying intense desires within man. Hunger for God turned out to be one of the common denominators in the guests of JT at Fire Creek. Most of us had experienced God in significant ways in large corporate meetings so our curiosity was piqued – wondering what to expect from this small gathering, tucked away in the mountains. In retrospect, beyond the fact of His obvious presence that week, I think the Holy Spirit used two primary catalysts to create the Fire Creek dynamic.
The first was the simplicity of just telling our stories; tracing down the work of God in our lives in the safe context created by Jack Taylor, an authentic spiritual father. No preaching? No teaching? That may sound underwhelming but it turns out, at least based on the things I witnessed God do, that being fully present to each other – away from cell phones and media must also be an ideal context for the Spirit of Truth to operate. The other catalyst was more subtle, even silent you might say, yet it had its own story to tell. That was nature itself. Todays’s passage begins…..
“The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands……Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech and there is no words; their voice is not heard. Their sound has gone out through all the earth, and their utterance to the end of the world.“
Romans 1:18- 20 speaks of the truth about God’s eternal power and divine nature being suppressed in man yet creation itself giving sufficient testimony (telling her story) as to even create accountability from man to God.
I think God took us a bit by surprise at Fire Creek. When we disconnected from our normal routines and activities (which too often dominate and define us) it seemed we had rediscovered a capacity within us to listen; to become more available to God and to each other. I confess, I did not see tongues of fire on any man’s head but I did see the love of God overtake a few hearts. I attribute our encounter to this: the stories of the men gathered had converged with nature’s testimony (story) to create a memorable environment in which God revealed himself.
There is much going on in God’s kingdom and not everything He is doing necessarily looks like what has been done before. Most of us have prayed for more of God. Have we considered that when He answers this prayer, the new wine He pours out will inevitably strain some of us older wine skins as well as the institutions we have formed.
Here is one way God stretched me. After my Fire Creek experience, JT had consented to come to Oklahoma to help us initiate a retreat of our own. Jack, the bona fide spiritual father, was unable to come which forced me into the role of imitating him, facilitating the event. I assure you, that was an absurdly large idea to my mini-wine skin mind and yet a perfectly natural move for God who is raising up a new generation of fathers. God had outmanuevered me and was weaning me from my dependence on others who I had labelled as bonafide. He wanted me to deal with my perpetual sense of being un-bona fide. He wanted me to understand that it is Christ in me, Christ alone who makes one bona fide.
This retreat came off without a hitch. Our stories were told as I did my best to create a setting where the men felt safe. The retreat demonstrated to me that we each can be persons of influence and peace to those around us as we intentionally creating space for them to be themselves, together discovering the stories that God is writing on our hearts for the world to read. This is within the grasp of every saint. We create a lot of space when we listen and are fully present to each other. We will be astonished at the degree to which we can strengthen the body of Christ by simply loving those nearest to us in this way.
Father, the visitations You have made, those occasions where we perceive that you have more directly involved Yourself in our affairs and our hearts, where You have caused heaven and earth to overlap, have brought desirable transformation to us and to your world. We cannot help but cry out for more. Help us to live in the awareness that unless it is You building the house that all our labor will be in vain. Grant that our heart’s passions be awakened and then spent on the same eternal things that move Yours. Amen.
In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul goes into much detail describing the similarities between our human bodies and the body of Christ, his church. Like most things in God’s kingdom it seems upside down or backwards to us….
the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable……God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked
If you read further today you will hear about fascia, one of the most under-appreciated parts of our bodies that turns out to be absolutely indispensable to us. Although it is my story, you should be able to pick up on your own opportunity to be fascia to the tribe of people God is endeavoring to connect you with. When Christ’s Body one day experiences this, the strand that is formed will never be broken.
Fascia – A sheet or band of fibrous connective tissue enveloping, separating, or binding together muscles, organs, and other soft structures of the body.
Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.
by RobertCummins | Aug 19, 2014 | 34. The Dance
Luke 7:24-35
“God is good! All the time!” is a chant I have heard crowds of Christians repeatedly shout over and over at the encouragement of worship leaders. Nothing could be truer. The news that God is good surely does need to be held in our hearts and jubilantly expressed with our lips. Yet, as this passage begins, we find John, who Jesus is honoring as the greatest of all men ever born, being rewarded with a stay in Herod’s prison where the next thing he experiences is not going to feel like God’s goodness at all.
I wonder if John, in that moment was chanting to himself, “God is good”? And, was he able to complete the refrain; “all the time”? Based on the questions he had given his deputation to ask Jesus, he must have grown uncertain regarding Jesus as the Messiah which had to cause uncertainty about his own mission and I would suspect, the goodness of God. It’s not surprising that in verse 23, Jesus gives us one of His most profound statements;
And blessed is He who is not offended with me.
Jesus begins asking everyone;
What was it you were expecting to find when you went out to see John?.
To make it clear as to who John really was, Jesus tells them that John was the messenger who was sent before Him to prepare the way for Himself and the Kingdom of God. He then throws in an amazing observation; that the least member of the kingdom of God has a better status than John, who was the greatest man (at least until then) to have yet walk the earth. Wow!
All the people and the tax gatherers were on board with John. The Pharisees and the lawyers were not. Jesus asks another rhetorical question;
To what then shall I compare the men of this generation. What are they like?
He then says they are a lot like those whose hearts have become song-less. Their hearts no longer had capacity for celebration or repentance. All that was left in their religious hearts was selective compliance, pride and it’s favorite expressions, criticism and condemnation.
No one had a better grasp of scripture than the Pharisees. No one better understood the intricacies of the Jewish law than the lawyers. Yet, in regard to the two most prominent men who had ever walked the face of this earth, all these so-called wise men could do was criticize and judge. Regarding both John and Jesus, they concluded, by their consecrated lives, that they must be possessed. Jesus, they condemned because he did not follow the letter of all their laws and He hung out with unsavory persons. What is Jesus’ point?
I believe His point is, at least in part, that if masterful knowledge of scripture and command of the Law could produce sons of God the Pharisees and lawyers would have arrived. Jesus knew that the Law without the Spirit was a formula for death-by-religion. Jesus was brutal on the Pharisees because they had become a false reference point and misrepresentation of God’s nature and His kingdom and they were leading His sheep astray.
Why was anyone in the kingdom of God greater than John? Because, to belong to the kingdom one must be born from woman and from the Spirit. Nicodemus was stumped too. Remember Jesus said to him;
Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God”.
A man with keen insight said to me a few years back, the most bewildering (and offensive) thing I may have ever been told. He said, “You are filled with religion”. I started to protest, but I checked myself and instead (like Mary) just cherished (sarcasm intended) that word in my heart and held it there until it made some sense. Sometime later I also recalled what a psychiatrist had told me. I will never forget her statement either, “Mr. Cummins, did you know that your life is being driven by anger?”. I started my chant, “God is good. God is good. All the time. All the time.” Really?! Then am I (Mr. Devout– have a quiet time every day – elder – worship leader – sometime preacher) coming off more like a son of Caiaphas than a son of God?!! The simple answer is that I had been infected with a RTD – a Religiously Transmitted Disease. (I thought I had been inoculated and was now immune from such troubles. Instead I was more like typhoid Robby.)
More about RTD’s at another time. This passage concludes with Jesus’ comment;
Yet wisdom is vindicated by her children.
The wisdom from above may be peaceful in nature but it is also foolishness (and offensive) to the men of this world who are not governed by God’s Spirit. Ultimately though, this wisdom from above will emerge in a family of childlike, dancing hearts who have broken free from their entanglements with religion and have learned to worship God in Spirit and Truth.
Father, may wisdom have her say in our hearts exposing those places where we are unbalanced between Spirit and Truth. May our hearts not be offended and stumble when we are confronted with our own religiosity. May Wisdom be vindicated in Your family, bringing much glory and honor to Your most holy and lovely name. Amen.
Regarding RTD’s. middlewithmystery.com is my story. The Lord encouraged me to tell it. It has much to do with how he has been curing me of this wretched condition all the while cherishing me as a chosen son. I am compelled to tell it also because, having been made of the same dust we will all be in some phase of our own cure. Because of the Spirit in us, our stories are a powerful means of teaching, admonishing and encouraging one another without the authority born of title. Walking with Jesus side by side other saints, telling our ongoing and updated stories is a big chunk of discipleship.
by RobertCummins | Aug 18, 2014 | 34. The Dance
Jeremiah 31:1-14
The passage begins, “At that time,” declares the Lord, ………………………...” And then, what comes to us is an abundance of extremely great news. Well.. actually it is written to Israel – a people who have been exiled for their apostasy. I am hesitant to apply what God has specifically said (card blanche) to Israel to myself or the church yet I do find great inspiration in what Jeremiah reveals about God’s heart.
In her song Flicker, Rosi Golan has a line; “Well my heart’s in two places and I’m feelin like a
a candle; burnin at both ends till it flickers….” I think God is in a similar predicament. At one end, the candle burns in anger…..
Behold, the sweeping tempest of His wrath has gone forth and it will not be turned back until He has accomplished the intent of His heart (30:23,24).
Then, on the other end, the passion of God is burning….
The Lord appeared to Him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness. Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! Again you shall take up your tambourines, and go forth to the dances of the merrymakers“.
The fundamental problem God is addressing is the drawing of man back to Himself – a holy and righteous Being, while man is determined to squander every kind gesture of God’s and spurn every loving correction. In this book God reveals that the core issue is the condition of man’s heart. Jeremiah 17:9 lays it out well. “The heart is deceitful above all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” The great news is, God understands it and has remedied it by way of new hearts and a new covenant!
We might wonder, reading a letter containing good news to someone else, what is that we have to dance about. But we need to keep in mind that the “At that time” this passage begins with, refers to a glorious day when Israel receives her new heart and is finally capable of responding to God’s love. In God’s stunning grace He opened the door to us gentiles to “that time” in advance of Israel. He opened His heart to us, sending His own Son whose work enabled us to become the dwelling place of God. God’s presence in Christ makes the heart new. This stunning good news gives us permission to dance now!
God’s candle is not going to burn from both ends, flicker – then die out. His love is a fire that cannot be extinguished. I want to lay down any reluctance I have to dance in celebration to this extraordinarily amazing status we have before Him as adopted and beloved children. Any conflicting predictament between God’s wrath and His love has been resolved at Calvary. His wrath was absorbed there in the person of Christ.
Father, we pray that we will increasingly see the light that radiates from the intense fires of Your love. Even if we have never even shuffled our feet, we pray that we too might dare to dance by faith on the unquestionable merit of what you have done for us. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Aug 21, 2013 | 34. The Dance
Psalm 19:1-6
“The heavens are telling the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.”
“Be prepared to tell your story” were the only instructions I was given to prepare for a week at Fire Creek Retreat in North Carolina. I and a handful of other men, with no other connection than knowing (or knowing of) Jack Taylor, would be spending the better part of a week together apparently with “listening” as our primary occupation. While this seemed a bit odd, the unique circumstances of being invited to this gathering had awakened my curiosity.
I had been aware of Jack Taylor for many years. I had read of an account where his Baptist church in Texas (in the late 60’s ?) had experienced an amazing revival and explosive growth that could not have been accounted for without a visitation by God. When I heard him speak in 1996 I heard a man infected with God and His kingdom. He was full of humor, wisdom, passion and freedom. When this internationally known preacher called me from an airport in Florida two years ago, you can be sure I was all ears. I was certainly interested in knowing Jack Taylor better and I was very interested in what he knew about visitations from God and His kingdom of which he was so fond of speaking.
God rescued me at the tail end of what contemporary history refers to as the Jesus Movement. Like JT’s experience, It was a time of revival that could not really be accounted for without God Himself awakening and satisfying intense desires within man. Hunger for God turned out to be one of the common denominators in the guests of JT at Fire Creek. Most of us had experienced God in significant ways in larger corporate meetings so our curiosity was piqued – wondering what to expect from this small gathering, tucked away in the mountains. In retrospect; Beyond the fact of His obvious presence that week, I think the Holy Spirit used two primary catalysts to create the Fire Creek dynamic.
The first was the simplicity of just telling our stories; tracing down the work of God in our lives in the safe context created by an authentic spiritual father, Jack Taylor. No preaching? No teaching? That may sound underwhelming but it turns out, at least based on the things I witnessed God do, that being fully present to each other – away from cell phones and media must be a favored context for the Spirit of Truth to operate. The other catalyst was more subtle; even silent you might say, yet it had its own story to tell. That was nature itself….
“The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands……Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech and there is no words; their voice is not heard. Their sound has gone out through all the earth, and their utterance to the end of the world.”
Romans 1:18- 20 speaks of the truth about God’s eternal power and divine nature being suppressed in man yet creation itself giving sufficient testimony (telling her story) as to even create accountability from man to God.
I think God took us a bit by surprise at Fire Creek. When we disconnected from our normal routines and activities (which too often dominate and define us) it seemed we had rediscovered a capacity within us to listen; to become more available to God and to each other. I confess, I did not see tongues of fire on any man’s head but I did see the love of God overtake a few hearts. I attribute our encounter to this dynamic; the stories of the men gathered had converged with nature’s testimony (story) to create a memorable environment in which God did move.
There is much going on in God’s kingdom and not everything He is doing necessarily looks like what has been done before. Most of us have prayed for more of God. Have we considered that when He answers this prayer, the new wine He pours out will inevitably strain some of us older wine skins as well as the institutions we have formed. Here is one way God stretched me. After my Fire Creek experience, JT had consented to come to Oklahoma to help us initiate a retreat of our own. Jack, the bonafide spiritual father, was unable to come which forced me into the role of imitating him; facilitating the vent. I assure you, that was an absurdly large idea to my mini-wine skin mind and yet a perfectly natural move for God who is raising up a new generation of fathers. God had outmanuevered me and weaned me from my dependence on others who I had labelled as bonafide. He wanted me to deal with my perpetual sense of being un-bonafied. He wants us to understand that it is Christ in us; Christ alone who bonafides.
Father, the visitations You have made; those occasions where you have more directly involved Yourself in our affairs and our hearts, where You have caused heaven and earth to overlap, have brought desirable transformation to our world. We cannot help but cry out for more of Your presence. Help us to live in the awareness that unless it is You building the house that all our labor will be in vain. Grant that our heart’s passions be awakened and then spent on the same eternal things that move Yours. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Aug 20, 2013 | 34. The Dance
Luke 7:24-35
“God is good! All the time!” is a chant I have heard crowds of Christians repeatedly shout over and over at the encouragement of a worship leader. Nothing could be truer. The news that God is good surely does need to be held in our hearts and jubilantly expressed with our lips. Yet, as this passage begins, we find John, who Jesus is honoring as the greatest of all men ever born, being rewarded with a stay in Herod’s prison where the next thing he experiences is not going to look like God’s goodness at all.
I wonder if John, in that moment was chanting to himself, “God is good”? And, was he able to complete the refrain; “all the time”? Based on the questions John had directed his deputation to ask Jesus, he was plagued with doubt about the certainties regarding Jesus’ identity as the Messiah; his own mission; and I strongly suspect, the goodness of God. It’s not surprising that in verse 23, Jesus gives us one of His most profound statements, “And blessed is He who is not offended with me“.
Jesus begins asking everyone, “What was it you were expecting to find when you went out to see John?”. To make it clear as to who John really was, Jesus tells them that John was the messenger who was sent before Him to prepare the way for Himself and the Kingdom of God. He then throws in an amazing observation; that the least member of the kingdom of God has a better status than John, who was the greatest prophet to ever walk the earth. Wow!
All the people and the tax gatherers were on board with John. The Pharisees and the lawyers were not. Jesus asks another rhetorical question, “To what then shall I compare the men of this generation. What are they like?”. He then says they are a lot like those whose hearts have become song-less. Their hearts no longer had capacity for celebration or repentance. All that was left in their religious hearts was selective compliance, pride and it’s favorite expressions; criticism and condemnation.
No one had a better grasp of scripture than the Pharisees. No one better understood the intricacies of the Jewish law than the lawyers. Yet, in regard to the two most prominent men who had ever walked the face of this earth, all these so-called wise men could do was criticize and judge. Regarding both John and Jesus, they concluded, by their consecrated lives, that they must be possessed. Jesus, they condemned because he did not follow the letter of all their laws and He hung out with unsavory persons. What is Jesus’ point?
I believe His point is, at least in part, that if masterful knowledge of scripture and command of the Law could produce sons of God the Pharisees and lawyers would have arrived. Jesus knew that the Law without the Spirit was a formula for death-by-religion. Jesus was brutal on the Pharisees because they had become a false reference point and misrepresentation of God’s nature and His kingdom and they were leading His sheep astray.
Why was anyone in the kingdom of God greater than John? Because, to belong to the kingdom one must be born from woman and from the Spirit. Nicodemus was stumped too. Remember Jesus said to him, “Do not marvel (don’t be offended or stumble over me) that I said to you, you must be born again. Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God”.
A man with keen insight said to me a few years back, the most bewildering (and offensive) thing I may have ever been told. He said, “You are filled with religion”. I started to protest, but I checked myself and instead (like Mary) just cherished (slight sarcasm) that word in my heart and held it there until it made some sense. Sometime later I also recalled what a psychiatrist had told me. I will never forget her statement either, “Mr. Cummins, did you know that your life is being driven by anger?”. I started my chant, “God is good. God is good. All the time. All the time. Really?! Then why am I – “Mr. devout- have a quiet time every day – elder – worship leader – sometime preacher” appear more like the offspring of Caiaphas than a son of God?!! The simple answer is that I had been infected with a RTD – a Religiously Transmitted Disease. (I thought I had been inoculated and was now immune from such troubles. I was mistaken.)
More about RTD’s later. This passage concludes with Jesus’ comment, “Yet wisdom is vindicated by her children“. The wisdom from above may be peaceful in nature but it is also foolishness (and offensive) to the men of this world who are not governed by God’s Spirit. Ultimately though, this wisdom from above will emerge in a family of childlike, dancing hearts who have broken free from their entanglements with religion and have learned to worship God in Spirit and Truth.
Father, may wisdom have her say in our hearts exposing those places where we are unbalanced between Spirit and Truth. May our hearts not be offended and stumble when we are confronted with our own religiosity. May Wisdom be vindicated in Your family, bringing much glory and honor to Your most holy and lovely name. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Aug 19, 2013 | 34. The Dance
Jeremiah 31:1-14
The passage begins, “At that time,” declares the Lord, ………………………...” And then, what comes to us is an abundance of extremely great news. Well.. actually it is written to Israel – a people who have been exiled for their apostasy. I am hesitant to apply what God has specifically said (card blanche) to Israel to myself or the church today yet I do find great inspiration in what Jeremiah reveals about God’s heart.
In her song Flicker, Rosi Golan has a line; “Well my heart’s in two places and I’m feelin like a
a candle; burnin at both ends till it flickers….” I think God is in a similar predicament. At one end, the candle burns; “Behold, the sweeping tempest of His wrath has gone forth and it will not be turned back until He has accomplished the intent of His heart” (30:23,24). Then, on the other end, the passion of God is burning; “The Lord appeared to Him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness. Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! Again you shall take up your tambourines, and go forth to the dances of the merrymakers“.
The fundamental problem God is addressing is the drawing of man back to Himself – a holy and righteous Being, while man is determined to squander every kind gesture of God’s and spurn every loving correction. In this book God reveals that the core issue is the condition of man’s heart. Jer 17:9 lays it out well. “The heart is deceitful above all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” The great news is, God understands it and has remedied it by way of new hearts and a new covenant!
We might wonder, reading a letter containing good news to someone else, what we have to dance about, but we need to keep in mind that the “At that time” this passage begins with, refers to a glorious day when Israel receives her new heart and is finally capable of responding to God’s love. In God’s stunning grace He opened the door to us gentiles to “that time” in advance of Israel. He opened His heart to us; sending His own Son whose work enabled us to become the dwelling place of God. God’s presence in Christ makes the heart new. This stunning good news gives us permission to dance now!
God’s candle is not going to burn from both ends, flicker – then die out. His love is a fire that cannot be extinguished. I want to lay down any reluctance I have to dance in celebration to this extraordinarily amazing status we have before Him as adopted and beloved children. Any conflicting predictament between God’s wrath and His love has been resolved at Calvary. His wrath was absorbed there in the person of Christ.
Father, we pray that we will increasingly see the light that radiates from the intense fires of Your love. Even if we have never even shuffled our feet, we pray that we too might dare to dance by faith on the unquestionable merit of what you have done for us. Amen.
