You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'coffee' tag.
This is just one story of many from my recent journey across the Americas to Chile. About a month and a half ago I felt God saying to me that He wanted to stretch my heart for the nations. I simply just said, “Sweet God! Let’s do it!” and didn’t think much more about it. A few weeks later I felt God was urging me to go to Chile with a friend of mine who has a ministry that partners with foreign missionaries and church planters offering whatever kind of help they need. I tried to push it out of my mind because, quite honestly, I did not have the time or the money to take such a trip without planning or notice. For the next week I went to bed with Chile on my mind and woke up with it on my heart. I finally mentioned something to my wife about it and asked her to pray with me about whether I needed to go on this trip; if it was just me I didn’t want any piece of it, but if it was God I wanted to be obedient. A few days later, she said, “Kyle, I gotta talk to you about something.” In my head, I thought, “Oh no, what did I do?” Then she totally surprised me and said, “You are suppose to go to Chile.” I knew it was true, I knew it was God. So I tapped into our savings (don’t tell Dave Ramsey), bought a plane ticket, packed my bags, and left two weeks later.
The country itself is absolutely gorgeous, with the Andes Mountains standing proudly to the East, their summits still heavily capped with winter snow, and the endless bliss that is the Pacific to the West. It is very chilly there (pun totally intended), and the food is overwhelmingly exquisite with juicy steak, cooked-to-perfection potatoes, and boiled, seasoned clams and shellfish being some of the main dishes. I was super stoked to find that some of the finest coffee I’ve ever had was served at every one of the four meals a day. More beautiful than anything else were the people. Their hunger for God was apparent as soon as I engaged in attempting conversation, they with their broken English and me in a less-than-poor adventure in speaking Spanish. We had a team made up of my friend, a Chilean missionary, a few translators, a husband and wife who lead worship, and me. We traveled from the very Southern-most city that is reachable by vehicle called Puerto Montt, to the nation’s capital city, Santiago, within the 10 days I was there, totaling over 650 miles. Every evening we preached at a different church in different cities and brought the message of the faithfulness and provision of God. After the message we prayed and ministered to whoever needed or wanted prayer. I have never seen the power of God fall so strongly on a gathering in my life.
I’ll share one example of what God was doing throughout the week. We were at a church where many people came down to receive prayer after the message. We begin to pray for many of the people as God lead us and God began to move in the most powerful ways. As my translator relayed the things I was speaking, God began to speak to me more specifically and with more detail than ever in my life. I prayed for healing over a woman and watched her physically change. I prayed for healing over another woman and as I did my chest started burning with intense pain, which I initially assumed was caused by the mysterious shellfish/clam thing I ate the night before. As the pain increased, I wasn’t sure what was wrong so I jumped out on a limb and asked her if something was wrong in the middle of her chest. She exclaimed that she had had an operation in that exact spot two months ago and that it didn’t heal right and something was still wrong inside of her; it caused her much pain. I prayed for God to immediately heal her and as I did I felt the burning sensation go away and apparently she did too as she began to weep and cry out, “Gracias, Señor!” She said the pain was gone and that God had healed her. God is absolutely amazing!
I prayed over many more people for all kinds of different things and God continued to do miraculous things. One of the most incredible experiences happened late in the week as the service we were at was almost over. I had been praying for some people in the back of the room and was walking back up to the front. I past a young guy of probably 16 or 17 years old whom I noticed earlier in the evening. I knew earlier that I needed to pray for him and I kept waiting and waiting for him to come forward but he never did. As I past him, I called Francisco, my translator, to come over to him with me, and I said to the kid, “Can I pray for you?” He nodded slightly and I said, almost without thinking, “You knew you were suppose to come up earlier for prayer but you didn’t.” He looked down at the ground and nodded again. I told him that it was okay and that God wanted to move inside of him. I put my hand on his forehead and it was as if I immediately knew the core of who this kid was: his deepest insecurities, his internal thoughts, his secrets that he had never told anyone before. I began to speak the things that were going through my mind. I began to explain with uncanny detail the hurt and pain that he held inside of his heart and how he hid this all internally, shielding it from his friends and family. I revealed the outburst of rebellion within him and the sinful things he had been doing over the past year or so. I told him about his dysfunctional relationship with his dad and how he absolutely could not stand to be around his father. I knew it was because his father had emotionally and verbally abused him growing up and that he felt no love from his dad at all. I said that I saw him shutting the door to his room at night, pretending everything was alright, and then weeping in his brokenness and depression in his bed, crying himself into slumber. This was scary territory for me to be trudging through and I finally asked him if all of this was true. He finally looked up from the spot on the floor that he had stared a hole through and peered deep into my eyes, trying his hardest to hold back the tears. He nodded his head and said that every word I spoke was exactly right; it was all true. I then said something that I knew was the reason I was praying for him, “You hate God because you hate your dad. You think God is a father like your father. I am here to tell you that God is not like your father. He loves you more than anyone on this whole earth, from Chile to Texas, ever could. He is not mad at you. He doesn’t want to throw you in hell. He is madly in love with you and wants to know you, and He wants you to know Him.” At this, the boy broke down. The coldness rushed from his eyes in the form of ever-swelling tears holding the emotions of years and years of loneliness and brokenness. With streams forming vertically down his desperate face, I began to tell him the miraculous Gospel of Jesus, and his gaze never broke mine. I explained,” Jesus took all of your sin, all of your loneliness, all of your emptiness, and all of your brokenness to the cross where He died the most gruesome and horrific death in the history of the world. He went into the grave taking with Him all of your junk. Three days later He arose from the dead, the only person in history to have victory over death, and in the pit of the tomb He left all of your sin and brokenness. He is alive today. He wants to give you life. He is here now and wants to bring you life –real life, abundant and full life, joyful life where He is your Lord and your Lover.” I told him that Jesus is real and that the reason I knew all the stuff about him was because His Spirit was in me, speaking to me, and leading me as I spoke and prayed over him. ”Jesus has given me life, He has rescued me from death, He has rescued me from my brokenness and pain, He has saved me from the mess I got myself into. Do you want Him to do the same for you?” With the puddle of tears on the tiles below growing larger, he said, “Yes, I want Jesus!” I lead him to the Lord, telling him to pray to God and ask Him to forgive him, ask Him to save him, ask Him to live in him, and ask Him to grant him life. As the boy prayed, I watched the Spirit of God fall on him, moving deep inside his heart and restoring life and hope and love within the almost forgotten depths of this kid’s soul. I was a spectator of the amazing grace of God rushing over a wretched man, as the Creator of the universe stole back what was rightfully His to begin with–the life of this teenage boy. God did many incredible things during this journey and it was an awesome blessing to join Him in His work. I pray that this testimony of His grace and truth and Spirit and power would fall deep upon your heart, bringing encouragement and refreshment to your spirit. May God bless you as you seek Him and as we are obedient to the things He calls us to do, may He bring light and grace and truth and life to the ends of the earth.
This post is a direct result of a conversation within my small group community that occurred Monday night. We talked about what it meant to live prayerfully and were discussing Jesus’ instructions on prayer in Matthew 6, when an interesting subjected arose. “What about when people pray in tongues in a service and no one can understand them? How is that different than ‘babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words,’ in verse 7?”
Thus, the topic for discussion is what exactly is the gift of tongues and how is it appropriate/inappropriate in worship.
Before I dive into scripture, I must confess that this subject is both deeply troubling for me (because I don’t enjoy controversy), yet very close to my heart. Monday night, I came clean and outed myself as one who has a prayer language; call it what you want–praying in tongues, speaking in the spirit, whatever–I call it my prayer language.
The story of this phenomenon began when I was 17 years old and a junior in high school. One Saturday night, I was intensely praying in my room and all of a sudden these words, seemingly gibberish and incomprehensible, fell out of my mouth in one, long strand. I, being the Baptist boy I was, became afraid and felt I had done something wrong. I immediately went to bed and even asked forgiveness from God for what had happened as a just-in-case-it-was-wrong thing. The next Wednesday at our youth group, we had a guest speaker from Canyon, TX, come and speak. As a part of the band, I was there early and me and this speaker sat down before the service and began to talk about God. He paused for a second and stared down at the table we were at, then said the most impacting words I had ever heard as a 17 year old kid. “Kyle, God wants you to know that whatever you experienced this past week was real and it was from Him.” I will never forget that experience.
I have never really talked about that experience or other experiences with my prayer language to people. For me, it is a very personal thing that is, and for the most part, will remain between me and God.
So, the discussion on Monday was uncomfortable and challenging, as I came out and confessed that I do pray in a prayer language in my personal devotion and time with the Lord. This came as a shock to many in my community group and my prayer for us is that it will at least stir up some good conversation about the things of the Spirit.
I spent about four and a half hours, coffee in hand of course, in the library yesterday researching and digging up everything I could find (in 4.5 hours) on the subject. Here is what I found.
The main text I’ll exegete is 1 Corinthians 14. You can read it HERE.
In this passage, Paul is talking about the building up of the church using prophecy versus using tongues.
“For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.” [v 2]
one
We must understand first that Paul recognizes this phenomenon as a legitimate part of church life and as a spiritual gift from God. He mentioned this gift in chapter 12 among a list of other gifts and is now, in chapter 14, expounding on the subject. So what exactly is the gift of tongues? Johannas Weiss, a renowned, German Biblical scholar, suggests that Paul could be referring to what Jewish and Greek writers call a state of “ecstasy.” This is where the person experiencing ecstasy goes under an “inspired seizure,” as words come from his/her mouth of which he/she has no control. ”The prophet does not utter anything from himself but echoes the foreign things of another being.” [This one sounds a little far fetched for me, but in an effort to be unbiased in my research, it is what I found.] Plato says that one in ecstasy is, “one who becomes inspired and out of his mind, and the mind is no longer present in him.” This person might reveal things way beyond his schooling, say profound, proverbial statements, or merely say words of phrases that do not make any earthly sense.
The difference between the Jewish and Greek idea of ecstasy and what Paul refers to as “speaking in a tongue,” is that in ecstasy, the words spoken are seemingly understandable as far as the language is concerned. The occurrence in Corinth seems to be different.
“he utters mysteries with his spirit.”
This is a somewhat difficult phrase in Greek. The word, pneumati, can be translated three different ways: 1) in [his] spirit, meaning his human spirit, 2) in the [Holy] Spirit, or 3) to the Spirit. Either way, there is a mysterious utterance in some spiritual aspect, and Paul acknowledges this act as legit gift from God.
two
Paul himself prays in tongues (vv 6,14,15,18).
“I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.” “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.”
It is a little frustrating to try to understand and analyze Paul’s psychology and language because he brings in Jewish and Greek backgrounds with no explanation. Though this gifting is very mysterious to us, Paul doesn’t give much instruction or detail on how it works. He merely says, “I speak in tongues.” I understand that Paul considers prayer in a tongue a genuinely Christian experience but that its natural irrationality renders it unprofitable for communal church life, which requires that the mind be productive (more on this in a bit). It is also interesting that Paul sings in the spirit. The term Paul refers to is psallein, which usually refers to praise through singing accompanied by an instrument but is not necessarily a previously written song in which everyone already knows. So in this sense, glossolalia could be related not only to prayer but also to singing a song. (I thought it interesting that the only other mentioning of Paul singing is while he was in the Philippian Jail, in Acts 16:25).
three
Paul does not reprimand or treat harshly the people who are speaking in tongues. He has the gift himself so he wouldn’t kick someone out of the assembly for using the gift. The problem is that it was creating alienation within the church, making the ones who didn’t possess the gift feel inferior, pushing them away from Christian community.
I found that the same situation broke out about a century and a half after Paul’s time with the followers of Montanus, who claimed special inspiration from the Spirit through the gift of tongues. The movement was rejected by church orthodoxy but was later espoused by Tertullian, who defended it. Perhaps this was because of a severe theological and devotional laxity in the church during the early second century. Regardless, some accepted it as Biblical practice while others rejected it.
four
Paul believes that prophecy is especially important because it illuminates the people of the church.
“I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy.” [v 5]
In contrast, speaking in tongues is of value only to the person who speaks. Apparently, Paul believes that the primary function of tongues is to express feelings, thoughts, or sentiments too deep for words and to address them to God in vocalization that breaks the bonds of ordinary, rational speech. Perhaps this is what he means in Romans 8:26, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”
Prophecy builds up the church, and therefore, is a more important gift. John Calvin defines prophecy as, “that unique and outstanding gift of revealing what is the secret will of God, so that the prophet is, so to speak, God’s messenger to men.” It develops loyalty, appealing to the conscience and will. Evidently, prophecy in these early churches functioned as a role filled now mainly by preaching. It built up the church, aka congregation, or assembly of believers, or the body of Christ.
five
Paul seems to be saying that personal devotion has its place, but it is not as important as public devotion, which concentrates on building up the entire group.
“I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.” “He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.”
The only way tongues can be regarded to as more important than prophecy is when one interprets the utterance to the body, which builds up the church. Outside of interpretation–although it is of value to the individual–tongues is of no value to the church.
Paul compares tongues to instruments; lifeless things that make sounds, “such as the flute or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the nots?” If you cannot understand the individual notes, it is merely meaningless sounds.
Then he compares it to other world-languages; “there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me.” By contrast, this suggests that, at least in this case, the gift of tongues spoken of here is not an unknown, earthly language (as in Acts 2). Here, it is words unintelligible to anyone on earth, other than the person whom God has gifted as an interpreter. It also must be noted that the one who speaks in a tongue is permitted to interpret the utterance himself (v 13). The word foreigner is barbaras, or barbarian, suggesting the onomatopoeic words, “barbarbarbar.” The point is that if the sounds are heard by the hearer, they are still of no value unless they communicate a message.
Paul’s main concern is the building up of Christian community within the body of believers. Speaking or praying in tongues, though appropriate and beneficial in times of personal devotion and intimate, spiritual settings, does not build up the church and therefore, is inappropriate in larger, congregational worship settings. Prophecy is encouraged in larger settings (and small settings) because it edifies and builds up the community of believers. I do believe that speaking in tongues or praying in a prayer language is beneficial in some cases. If a small gathering of believers are seeking the Lord together, and everyone is comfortable praying in a prayer language, or at least with others praying in a prayer language, I do not think it is inappropriate. The believers are seeking to draw closer to God, through the Spirit, communally. If there are, however, members or individuals in the gathering that are not comfortable with tongues, I think it is more beneficial to do as Paul says. ”If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.”
Upon conclusion of this overly-lengthy post, we should heed the words of Paul. ”Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church.” “Be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.”
There will be several blogs to come. Please check out the my journey page. It describes the things that have been going on in the last year of my life.
much love.
kp
Isa 1:12-17
12 When you come to worship me,
who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?
13 Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts;
the incense of your offerings disgusts me!
As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath
and your special days for fasting—
they are all sinful and false.
I want no more of your pious meetings.
14 I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals.
They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them!
15 When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look.
Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen,
for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.
16 Wash yourselves and be clean!
Get your sins out of my sight.
Give up your evil ways.
17 Learn to do good.
Seek justice.
Help the oppressed.
Defend the cause of orphans.
Fight for the rights of widows.
This passage has lead to a weeks worth of pondering the question: What am I doing?
I am on staff at a church that is all about relational living and growing in honesty and even reaching out to those who are in need. But when it comes down to it, what am I–the student pastor of the fastest growing church in bell county– doing about the economic injustice around me?
In studying this passage in Isaiah, I’ve learned several things. In order to understand it, I have to understand some background and knowledge of the ancient world. The opposite of HOLY is UNCLEAN. So in the ancient world, to come to God with uncleanness was utterly detestable and could never end well. If the opposite of HOLY is UNCLEAN then the only thing one could do is to remove the uncleanness from one’s life. The way to remedy this uncleanness problem was by ritual washings detailed in the Torah. These washings were a sign of moral purification of which the “blood on your hands” was washed away and made clean again. The blood, the scripture says, is the blood of innocent victims–those found in v.17. So it is not the act of shunning, mistreating, or abusing the underprivileged, impoverished, poor, and widowed that causes bloodshed. It is the act of omitting or neglecting the oppressed, the orphans, the widows, etc.
The text speaks in imperatives in v.17, implying what the Israelites failed to do. Learn to do good. Lamad is the Hebrew word for learn and literally means exercise in, or learn something. It says Seek Justice. Darash means to resort or seek out. In the inparative, the meaning is a command to study or practice justice. Justice is the word mishpat in Hebrew, which comes from the root word, shaphat, meaning judge or govern. So the command is to practice justice. Next, it says ‘ashru hamotz, or help the oppressed. Asher in the Piel imperative stem means to set right, or to righten. So God’s command here is to righten the oppressed ones–to make things right. Next is shiphtu yatom, meaning defend the orphan–its the same root from before (shaphat). Here, the verb literally means judgment, or the act of deciding a case. Here it is specifically used for God’s requirement that a man does justice (or argues the case for) the orphans. Orphans is a symbol of those who cannot take care of themselves, not just kids without parents. Last is riyvu ‘almanah, or plead for the widow. Riyb is to strive or contend, though in the imperative the idea is to shout, quarrel noisily, shouting clamor involving bodily struggle, the case that is brought forward.
So here is where we are at: practice and exercise justice, set right the things that are wrong with the people who are oppressed by (fill in the blank), argue the case for and defend the ones who cannot take care of themselves, and with all you have contend and plead openly for the widows.
Now here is the point where I ask myself: What am I doing? Am I seeking justice for those who do not have it? Am I rescuing the oppressed from the harshness of this world? Am I defending people who cannot take care of themselves? Am I contending for the widow so that she might not be forgotten and uncared for? Why do I struggle with omitting these things from my faith? I find it so easy to talk about the contemporary issues facing some of my students in the youth group. It is easy for me to sing songs on Sunday morning. Its easy to follow along in the Bible when our pastor brings his message to the congregation. But why is it so hard for us as evangelicals to really get a grasp on helping those who dont have a voice, an opinion, a fighting chance to survive on their own?? Why are we ok with sending money across the world so that someone we dont know can have clean water or a new pair of shoes, but when it comes down to going across the tracks to the opposite end of town we freeze, make excuses, and end up settling for the check-over-seas option? That is messed up.
So it moves my question from: What am I doing? to What can I do?
The answer to the former as of now is not much. The answer to the latter is, well… the possibilities are endless. Why not help those that cant really help themselves. Why not defend those who have no voice? Why not plead the case for the ones who have no one to take care of them? Isnt that justice? Isnt that seeking out the things that are right? Isnt that seeking justice?
