Common Soul

In approximately 1643 George Fox, considered to be the foremost figure in the move of God that would become known as the Quakers, wrote to his friends a letter of encouragement which included the following…

“…All my dear friends everywhere, live in the noble seed Christ Jesus, the savior and the anointed one, and the righteous holy one, that your minds, hearts, souls, spirits, and bodies may be righteous, living in God. For the Lord loves the righteous, and the righteous are in peace, and all workers of iniquity their mouths shall be stopped. The throne of iniquity must (be put) down, and the chamber of imagery in every heart; for the Lord must have the heart, for it is to be his offering and sacrifice…”

The thing I want to bring attention to in the above is his mention of the “chamber of imagery” in every heart that must be put down.  He mentions it again later in the same letter…

“…Through which law of life righteousness flows, and runs down as a stream, and also justice and truth. Here by this law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, (mark, in Christ Jesus,) you come to know the Lamb’s throne, and the throne of iniquity thrown down, its mouth stopped, and the chambers of imagery thrown down, and the household of God raised; the fruitless trees thrown down, and the plant of God raised up, which is of his own planting; a tree of righteousness , whose fruit is unto holiness, whose end is everlasting life…”

The concept of the ‘chamber of imagery’ comes from Ezekiel 8:12.   The Lord led Ezekiel through a vision where he was commanded to dig a hole in a wall that revealed a secret door. When Ezekiel went through the door he saw the elders of Israel offering incense as worship to false idols and things that offended the Lord. 

“Then said he unto me, Son of man, have you seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, the LORD sees us not; the LORD has forsaken the earth.”  (Ezekiel 8:12)

God allowed Ezekiel to see into what was happening in secret.  God knew the whole time what was happening and still today knows all of what happens in the secret chambers where offensive images are entertained.  Each of us have a secret chamber where either God can find residence or where we will harbor imaginations that are tantamount to worship.

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:12-13)

The imagination is the bedroom of the soul

In the imagination is where intimacies are entertained and conceptions occur.  It is within the inward chambers that conceptions are nurtured and are eventually inevitably brought out into the open.   But they start in the secret places of the heart; what Ezekiel described as the “chamber of images.”    It is important to ask ourselves what images we are entertaining and what amusements we are allowing to feed imagery into our souls.  Do we conjure up imaginings or tolerate any imaginations that would be in contradiction to the Holy Spirit who seeks to indwell us, transforming our inward life and gripping our inward being into new acts of righteousness and goodness by filling our imaginations with his reality?  Do we take the passage below seriously as a method of daily operation?:

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ”  (2 Corinthians 10:5)

The purpose of imagination is to worship God and perceive his leading.  It has a functional utility and is not meant to become a den of entertainments. It is a tool through which the fruit of the spirit can find anchor:  love, joy, peace, kindness, patience, thoughtfulness, self-control.  The satisfaction that God’s reality will bring far transcends the cheap temporary rush of abusing our imaginations by forcing it to be a consumer of goods.    Our minds are not meant to be fed with television, advertizing, movies, and constantly streaming noise from iPods.   Our imaginations are not meant to consume, but its power is discovered when itself becomes consumed by the Holy One. 

The bedroom of the soul should be kept clean, orderly, private and sacred.  Nothing should be entertained there except the Lover of our souls.   Any other offer for delight and intimacy in the inward chambers of the imagination with anything that did not originate directly from the spirit, is a seduction away from our One true Lover.  God wants the privilege of an exclusive domain.

The Lover sings:

“You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride;
       you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.” (Song of Songs 4:12)

The Beloved sings:

“ Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
       for your love is more delightful than wine.
Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;
       your name is like perfume poured out.
         No wonder the maidens love you!
Take me away with you—let us hurry!
       Let the king bring me into his chambers.” (Song of Songs 1:2-4)

Our lives are filled with provocative sights and we have learned that our imaginations can be used to satisfy some selfish aspect of ourselves.  It is important to realize that exposure to objects and images themselves are not sinful, but only when we retain a ’snapshot’ of the image and bring it into the inward chambers of the imagination that our invite the corruption of our souls and the grieving and crushing down of the spiritual seed and living substance of Christ which cannot abide in a defiled container.  Images and scenarios are persistently presented to our minds to distract us away from the Holy One, from the peace, joy and impeccable balance of the Spirit.  But as we keep the chamber swept clean, and deny entrance to the defiled images, keeping the door sealed for our Groom, we are kept waiting for a time.  Anticipation grows and a Holy discontent manifests.  Anticipation is a vital ingredient in the relationship.  The tension cultivated from not being satisfied makes the soul restless because we are unaccustomed to suspending our satisfaction in our lives engineered for convenient gratification.  But harnessing and utilizing this anticipation is a necessity in the process of transformation we long for as followers of Christ.

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. “ (Romans 12:2)

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.“  (1 John 2:15)

Satisfaction in God must be cultivated and defended like a garden in the wilderness.  A necessary part of this is in understanding and harnessing hunger.  Without hunger there can be no satisfaction.  The level of satisfaction will directly correspond to the hunger experienced.  Hunger is too often regarded as something undesirable and necessary to eliminate altogether.  This is likely the result of having witnessed the horrible consequence of protracted hunger through injustice that has lead to starvation and destruction of individuals.  And since hunger has a perceived unpleasantness on its surface, a connection between the feeling and the concept of starvation is made, stripping away the knowledge of the important value and vital dynamic inherent in the momentum-generating dynamic of hunger and dissatisfaction.  But consider this:  a slight hunger will yield a slight satisfaction.  A powerful hunger will yield a powerful satisfaction.  And there is no satisfaction without first being a hunger in its place.  All satisfaction must have its beginnings in hunger.

Hunger in the inner chamber

Imagine embarking on a long journey to travel half way around the world in order to be reunited with family who is anticipating and preparing for your arrival.  They are joyously preparing a lavish meal to greet you with and are putting together all your favorite dishes, complete with your favorite beverages and desserts.  As each hour passes on your long journey, your hunger grows.  Finally you get near your destination.  Not only will you be embraced in loving arms, but will have a feast to remember.  Or will you?   Deciding that you can’t wait any longer, you stop by a local fast food restaurant just before making your way to your final destination.  You satisfy yourself on a cheap burger and fries.  Adequately satiated, you find your way to your relative’s home.  You are happy to see everyone, and embrace them warmly.  But what of the meal prepared for you now?   You can fake it, but the gift of satisfaction has been stolen.

Imagine another case more severe.  A husband arrives home to be greeted by his beloved spouse who has been anticipating the opportunity to satisfy him.  But he, having become selfishly intolerant of any discomfort within himself, has already satisfied himself privately with imaginings in his own mind; mental ’snapshots’ of other women he has captured and brought into the secret chamber of his imagination.  Adequately satiated, he is unable to find satisfaction with his spouse because he has not understood the nature and utility of hunger.  Misguided, he has robbed his wife of the delight of being delighted in and missed this vital aspect of their union.    Injustice has erupted in their midst, and the proper balance and place of anticipation, sacrifice and satisfaction is leaving them vulnerable to reasonings and pressure that is hostile to the original purpose and meaning of their marriage. 

Even worse, we satisfy ourselves on a myriad of entertainments, images, musings and distractions, actively and habitually cramming them into our imaginations in an effort to quench the hunger for God we don’t understand or don’t believe can be satisfied.  Doubt is that which subtly whispers to us that God is not really going to satisfy and that such pursuits are ultimately going to leave you hungry still because, “you know, its all kind of a mind game anyway.”   The lie persists to convince us that the dissonance we feel within is because we need to consume something more or something else to find that right fit.  And we are led into a snare where we can be controlled and manipulated because we no longer allow hunger to grip us deeply and therefore prevent ourselves from experiencing the inward energy generating and residing like a reservoir holding back immense pressure harnessed to generate virtually limitless power.

When the “chamber” is clean and God satisfies

The truth is that God has and is the substance that our inward being longs for, needs and was designed to be satisfied upon.  There is nothing more gratifying, so filled with meaning, transcendence and ecstasy as when God unpacks the Goods.  So what is it, or what are they?   What does it look like?  How does it feel?   What does it mean for us, for the world, for our live?  Is it just some religious fervor or concocted chemical brain state brought about by a meditative frame of mind, or an achievement of non-attachment?  Is it some, all or none of these?  Rather, it is Something entirely beyond ourselves that finds its way to be expressed in and through us.

“The kingdom of God is within you”  (Luke 17:21)

“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17)

Praying for others in an intercessory fashion requires some training of the inward perspective.  Like any strength training, resistance is essential and accepting that the struggle against this resistance is inherent in the process of change and transformation. Our human tendency even when praying for others is to focus more and more on the problem or wrong condition and a brokenheartedness over it.  Intercession may start there, but it must eventually shift to an examination  of one’s own inward state in order to see if there is any weakness or resonance with the problem within.  Then a crying out to God for that inward change must occur on behalf of the object of one’s prayers so that there is a prayerful agony for change being experienced simultaneously for the object of one’s prayers and for the same essential transformation in oneself.  It’s a fusing of identification with the object of one’s prayers.   But this is only the beginning of travail.   It continues, sometimes with very dark wrestlings and out-cryings until the depth of the state is felt by illumination of the Spirit.  This is divine compassion at work.  This can happen quickly or can take a long time.  Even days or weeks.   But there is a point when God’s hand is reached, like Peter’s hand gripped the Lord’s when he began to sink upon the waves.  It is then that the Answer begins to appear.  The “gap” begins to be filled with a goodness that is beyond description.  Old praying saints of ‘revivals’ in ages past called it “praying through.”   And when you start poking ‘through’ it is like uncorking a little hole in a great reservoir.  Its a small trickle of joy that may seem insignificant.  But it is just the beginning of a mighty change as that little hole gets a little bigger and the flow remains unobstructed.  

What is important to understand about what is happening in all this is that the power of eternity is being brought into the state of things.    The eternal Godward change we are seeking is only brought about by the presence of the eternal.  It’s as if all this life on earth is lived like a large mouse maze.  Each mouse can only see what is in front of him and what the next turn looks like.  He cannot know what is over the wall or around the next turn. And all the mice are going down the wrong paths to their doom.   But eternity is like a person standing above the maze, who sees the beginning from the end and knows where each path leads.  What the praying mouse experiences is an elevation from the corridor and a drawing near to the eternal that sees and knows us from the outside.   Jesus lived his life there in dependence, trust and cooperation with eternity hovering “above” life on earth.   It was drawing upon this eternity at hand that people found life, forgiveness, redemption from broken lives, even physical healing and the multiplication of loaves and fishes…  was because the infinite was brought “down” to touch the finite.   It’s this same abiding we are invited into.

In intercession, one “hand” is placed on the object of prayer and the other reaches for God with the entire soul, adores and becomes consumed by him.  It is in this state of worship, honor and glorification to whom it is due while standing in that gap… one hand on God and one hand on that which is being prayed for…   a process works itself out.  We allow ourselves, being qualified by Christ in us, to be a vehicle.  But the word of God does the work. 

Arthur C. Clarke observed and wrote that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, or perhaps we could say the “miraculous.”   This statement is useful for understaning that there is nothing mystical or miraculous about this stuff to God.   We call it mysterious or miraculous because we don’t understand how it works.  But Christ is the keeper of the technology of eternity.  We cannot figure it out on our own because we are under the inescapable burden of a finite existence.  It’s a gift.  And the ways and means of joining Christ in his primary work of intercession is the central discipline through which we become acquainted with the miraculousness of eternity’s influence.    When you read about the history of the movements of spiritual renewal in Christ and the incredible things that would occur.  It all makes sense in light of eternity drawing near.

I am writing this morning from a bench on Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado.  For about a year or so I have been coming down here to pray:  praying for the city, praying for the church in Boulder and for my own role in that in general.  It’s been a nice discipline.  But today it is different.   Usually I am here with someone else who has agreed usually to meet down here to join with me in the effort.   And now it appears that I am entering a season that I must do this alone until God brings someone else along side.   As I have been walking along, lending my tongue and mind to God, probing around in the spirit for some gap to feel out…  there are some here and there….  some obviously glaring ones that I don’t seem to be given entrance into right now…  but overall I am struck ever so softly but undeniably with the conviction that I am not filled enough.   What are you trying to show me God?  A lady just walked by me.  I saw her step into one of the flower beds and kick and stomp down a bunch of flowers.  As she passed by me she hesitated.   I looked up at her and she scowled…  then began to storm off.   Then she looked back again… and I said “You can talk to me.”  She turned around and walked toward me and spit on the ground in front of me and screamed “GO AWAY!” and stormed off again.   Just now.  I am writing this literally after it has happened.   I’m grieving.   She exhibits a symptom of what is wrong here.  She is deeply hurt and given over to things not natural to a child - which she once was, and to God still is.   It’s not the first time something like that has happened to me here.  A few months ago a man who appeared to be either travelling or homeless walked by me and growled “Get the f**k out of here!”   Maybe these are devils finding a foothold of utterance…  giving me a clue that I am supposed to be here.   There are forces of evil evident here and I know that I represent something they don’t like.   I learned recently that the police here in Boulder are burdened down with responses to suicide attempts.  It is a real problem here.   People are wealthy and proudly self-sufficient in their minds…  there hasn’t been much perceived need for God.  But its showing.  It’s definitely showing.  The gloss is tarnishing.  God is getting ready to pull back the veil.

I once read in K.P. Yohannan’s book “Revolution in World Missions” about his confusion over why young indigenous ministers who experienced great power, miracles, signs and wonders in their outreach, upon attending Bible College or obtaining some theological training under the precept of being better equipped to answer questions, then found that the power would disappear.   Equipped with more knowledge of scripture and theology, they would no longer experience signs, wonders, healings, demons being cast out or other such phenomena.  His question was simply “Why?” (or something like that - find out).  This is a question I have struggled with too at times.  But I have decided that God knows, has the answer, and wants to give his wisdom on this matter.  So, committing this to prayer, in faith have patiently waited for that illumination.

I similarly remember the early days after I began to cling to Christ for my very life.  Amazing supernatural things would happen.  And I could sense the leading of the spirit as if a breeze was blowing through an open window, and I would just “know” and obey.   It was a precious time.   My theology was not all worked out.  I often admitted that I did not have it all figured out.  Somehow just knowing that I was in the hands of the One that did know it all, gave me peace and assurance to go on.  Faith was alive and the impact of the reality of a living God could be felt everywhere I looked and in almost everything I did.  But it was a scary time too.  It is all too easy to romanticize things in retrospect.   It was romantic in many ways to find Someone so great, to be know him and be known by him. 
   
But the scary part was partially because that is what faith felt like sometimes and partially because I could feel my own weakness so clearly at times.   We live our whole lives since childhood learning how to protect ourselves and have control over our own lives and destiny.  With Jesus you have to unlearn that.  You have to accept all the implications of being vulnerable in the most intimate and tender parts of your soul: the parts that hunger for love and thirst for acceptance and are desperate to be valued by others.  When we are very young we want someone that we can trust and we want to be trusted back.  It’s a deep human need.  But most people become so let down or injured by their own family, friends or confidants, that they give up on the trust search.   The decide they can’t find someone they can trust, then they must find some thing they can rely on.  It can be anything that feels more solid than the relationships they’ve seen crumble.  It could be achievements, it could be physical attractiveness or sexuality, or money, or some talent or aspect of themselves that can be socially desirable and useful to cultivate some semblance of value.  So it becomes this system that they trust, but not people.  Friends and family become necessary utility and perhaps enjoyable accessories.  They might be enjoyable and even stress-relieving.  But trusted?  It’s easier to “love” than to trust.  And I remember the little baby steps of unlearning the patterns that I had so daily gripped to and developed as scary.  I was learning to do what I had been taught and even shown you cannot do: trust.  

But even though I was experiencing this great inward healing, and learning what it meant to love and to trust and to experience joy, patience, kindness and hope…   even though this was occurring, I still felt the need to scratch the itch of control.   I should clarify that I am not advocating that there is a more idealistic state that is essentially haphazard and out of control.  More specifically, I mean the kind of control that is an extension of mistrust.  This particular temptation lures the person embarked on the open sea of faith and is still learning how to work his rigging and harness the wind to find a comfortable sandbar on which to lodge.   Its a temptation to slow down and spend some time in port, getting better prepared for the sea.   It’s not altogether a bad thing to do.   The problem is, the port is a haven for wanna-be seamen who talk the talk and appear to have their lives centered around life at sea.  But the problem is that they don’t actually leave port very much and are caught up with the posturing of the sailing life with others and find it all too easy to be affirmed there among friends than face the lonely sea where uncertain winds blow.   But the primary the reason they don’t often venture too far beyond the harbor is because they have ceased to be drawn by the voice beyond the waves.   They remember it well, are haunted by it, and can recall it to others well enough.  They love to surround themselves with stories about it and be friends with those who heed the call to voyage.  But the voice is drowned out and lost among the cacophony of stories, information, cargo trades and merchant deals that hum around the port and its vessels.   They are busy getting better equipped, building more capable ships, and increasing in stature among the young sailor hopefuls and even teaching courses on marine warfare, stellar navigation and oceanic survival skills but rarely ever taking anything but short cruises, where they return to port again after a day at sea, posturing like seasoned mariners.  They sometimes get frustrated with it all and think about moving inland.  But occasionally on a quiet morning at the beach when the sea is calm and the port is asleep… they hear it!   The voice beyond the waves whispers its delicate unfolding mystery and they renew their activity at port, preparing, assessing, training…  drowning out the voice again with activity.

It’s not that the power leaves the young missionary who formerly experienced power in his ministry and now finds that it has somehow evaporated in his new theologically trained life.  It’s just that when he found a good port with good provisions, a good network of camaraderie and lots of things he can do to prepare himself…  he can get encumbered with the trappings of staying near port within himself and cannot bear to venture too far because there is always a little more that can be done to prepare.  There is always someone with a better developed answer to certain questions that might arise and always a little more understanding that can be had from others about survival at sea, and always some better equipment, ropes, sails, and provisions…   and soon we can’t seem to find our way out of the habit of consumption.  We become the consumer, when the whole time we are supposed to be the ones being consumed by the One who draws us far across the sea with him… to have our being filled with that wonderful voice and be spent upon the waves of agony, joy, peace and power that cannot be experienced in its fullness while settled comfortably numb in the teeming marketplace of port.

In 1671, George Fox, who had been counted worthy of imprisonment, beatings and constant slander for his intercessory life of following the head Intercessor in spiritual and physical labors, wrote to his friends while visiting the island of Barbados something that struck clarity to me about recent struggles I’ve had.  

“…[In That which never changes] you all have peace and life, as you dwell in the blessed seed [Jesus].  Here all is blessed, over that which brought the curse; where all shortness, narrowness of spirit, brittleness and peevishness are…” 

George Fox was well known for having the uncanny ability to discern people’s spirits and mindsets.   I firmly believe it was because of the measure of the spirit that he had been given which Hebrews 4:12 describes…

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

I’ve experienced moments of this infilling, when a person’s inward functioning is laid open to your spirit and you can speak to the heart of their condition just as you might describe the contents of a box.  It’s a blessed tender state that is by God’s wise movement and is guarded from misuse by the prerequisite of Christ’s own holiness, humility and compassion.

George Fox, writing words 300 years before my own birth penetrates my condition, describing what I have in many moments been struggling with and attributes it to consequences of “the curse”:

“shortness, narrowness of spirit, brittleness and peevishness”

Just having the light thrown on your state is enough to feel it sapped of its strength.  I could go on and on about George Fox’s writings and how they are simply blooming with insight and inspiration.  After reading his journal or letters for a time, I return to the scriptures and they make more sense, are more precious, read more naturally and  seem to resonate within me louder.

The scripture can be a light to our feet on this path of following the Intercessor onlyif we possess the same spirit which gave forth its inspiration.  Otherwise we fool ourselves with our religious mechanizations, reading aimlessly, miming the actions of drinking from a cup that is empty.   Such is the scripture without the illumination of the Spirit.  We must first reach down and find our heart, judge its condition, either repent or rejoice accordingly and then come and drink from the cups of verse.   The “word of God” is not words and letters, but its an active, living Consciousness that transcends any origin outside ourselves, yet wants to take up residence in meaning and power in our innermost emotional and rational soul.

For the past few years, every Saturday morning I would meet with my friend Steve to talk about God and pray.  It has at times been a vital link that we both identified as put together by God. And for much of that time, I’ve prayed with him about his family’s direction and possible return to Asia.   They founded a church in Hong Kong as American missionaries during the 1990s.  And finally the door has opened for them to work and minister in China.   They left earlier this week.  

It’s bittersweet, naturally.  I’m really excited about the whole thing, but that leaves my Saturday mornings with a kind of vacuum.   I scheduled something this weekend with my son.  I want to take him on a hike early in the morning so we can connect and spend some time together.  I’m going to talk with him about prayer too and explain what has been happening and how I am praying for new prayer partners.  I will make an invitation for him to join me on Saturdays.  We will go out and pray in a different part of the city or with different people who may come along side.  I don’t know what will come of it.  But it feels right.   I think by communicating and demonstrating the validity of prayer first hand together it should have some level of meaning.  My prayers all week will be, in part, to lead up to this time.  

I’m also praying for a dedicated space downtown that someone can let us use as an intercessory “boiler room” of sorts.   If I had a dedicated private space in a strategic area, I would love to do some work there about what God wants to do here in Boulder. 

“CHRISTIANITY IN ITS TRUE SENSE PUTS AN END TO GOVERNMENT.  So it was understood at its very commencement; it was for that cause that Christ was crucified.  So it has always been understood by people who were not under the necessity of justifying a Christian government.  Only from the time that the heads of government assumed an external and nominal Christianity, men began to invent all the impossible, cunningly devised theories by means of which Christianity can be reconciled with government.  But no honest and serious-minded man of our day can help seeing the incompatibility of true Christianity - the doctrine of meekness, forgiveness of injuries, and love - with government, with its pomp, acts of violence, executions, and wars.  The profession of true Christianity not only excludes the possibility of recognizing government, but even destroys its very foundations.”

–from “The Kingdom of God is Within You” by Leo Tolstoy

You can see why this book was banned in Russia.  Such a prominent figure talking about religious convictions that destroy government?!   It’s a brilliant, comprehensive and convincing book that tackles every possible argument about the evil of goverment that uses or reserves military power and the Christian’s appropriate response to it.  It is, in my opinion, a primary masterpiece in the school of Christian anti-war thought that strikes at the heart of the hideous phenomenon of religious national patriotism.   Every time I see Christian-American patriotism like Bibles or crosses wrapped in flags, it absolutely makes me cringe.   It’s a tragic deception that draws dear lambs out from the true hidden Zion into outward things that are designed for demise.      The subtle American idoltry of freedom-worship is a tragically slippery slope for so many.   I acknowledge that there are certain freedoms granted me by the United States, but the true Freedom that transcends this life is not granted by governments nor can it be erased by governments.   And it is this Freedom that I cannot in clear conscience give credit to any outward government for or by necessity swear allegience to.  True freedom that Christ taught is not granted through goverments founded by people claiming to be Christians or ordained in any way from any state however benevolent or religious in origin.  It is one thing to perform duties and functions in support of a good government.  It is quite another to attribute the true Christ-wrought freedom to goverment and create a monstrous half-truth alloyed with idolatries of nationalism in honor of a government that must, by virtue of its existence on the world stage, retain an ability and willingness to war.   This is something utterly opposite the teachings of Christ that appeal to any and every person’s sense of what is right and good.

 I understand that as a person that cannot support war, I cannot support a government that chooses war even though it is illustrated to me that my freedoms and rights are secured and retained through war.   Since it is my belief that the true Freedom that every soul is in need of cannot come through government or war, I lay aside my “rights” offered me by my goverment.   The freedom of speech, the freedom to travel, bear arms if I wish, or to practice whatever religion I may…  all come from God, not man.   I appreciate that the United States offers me protection from harm from anyone who would attempt to take away those rights.   But I refuse, on grounds that my Freedom is granted by God and not man, to utilize the arm of government in interest of self protection.   Christ’s teaching is to bear injuries, forgive and to “turn the other cheek”.   The protection of law,  enforced justice and retribution impairs or bars the outworking of God’s glory in the act of forgiveness. 

Were I robbed or injured, I would inform authorities who would be interested to act in the interest of the public welfare.  But I would not seek retribution before a court, because my appeal is to God.   I think this is a much-neglected subject in the conversation of modern “Christendom” because much of modern, western Christianity is dangerously polluted with national pride and a belief that the United States was some sort of ideal inspired by God.  Among governmental experiments, its been a fantastically successful one, but that is all it is.  It was founded through much debate and a brilliant convergence of political philosophy, parts of which had been tested in France and other places and finally distilled into our Constitution.  Yes, it was brilliant…  but not perfect.  Nor divine.  The allowance of any human government even in ancient Israel, from which Christianity sprung, is clearly illustrated in the scriptures as a concession from God, not his ideal will. 

 And today, however “good” our government is in relation to other world governments, it is not in harmony, nor can it be, with true Christian teaching that resonates to its origins when it first affronted the push toward outward government in the person of Jesus.  All law and outward government is actually against his teaching, resisting it, and subverting it because it has as its capstone the principle of an unearthly government that springs from within and can never be originated or sustained outwardly.   So just because the dentist can agree with the heart surgeon regarding the method of incision, does not mean I would trust the dentist to perform a bypass.  In the same way, I appreciate when the government points out injustice or offers its support to physical freedom, but I do not swear my allegience to it as the source of the true freedom from which I draw my life. 

And it is because of this posture that I am confident that those who have sworn allegiance to the government and sense no contradiction between this and their professed Christianity will consider me decieved, apostate or unworthy of the freedoms so idoltrously cherished.  It is one face of the many-faceted things that can potentially leave us regarded as “scum of the earth” and despised among men.  

I was plunging into the pit
with my fists clenched
But you stopped me
I didn’t deserve your mercy
But you caught me anyway.
I have nothing but hardness
But you showed your willingness to bear it
All of nature reflects the tenderness,
the willingness,
the brilliance,
the lengths you go to,
to stop me from my willful ruin
and pluck me from my faithlessness
and stand me up again, trembling
and tuck me into the healing warmth of your wings
until I can again sing about your love

One of the more famous quotes by Mahatma Gandhi says “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”   It’s been oft applied and has a wonderful breadth of meaning.  And it resonates regarding prayer.  To effectively interceed in prayer, there is a process of identification with the object of intercession.  If there is someone being prayed for that is in need of repentance, then as the intercessor by the spirit draws near to touch that person on one side while gripping to God on the other, there comes a moment when the hardness of the person’s condition impacts the intercessor and feels like a wound in the heart that bleeds and grieves, crying out to God for mercy.  The intercessor in us then feels the weight and severity of the ‘gap’ and is drawn into a repentance…  acknowledging the need for the same ongoing change within ourselves as we cry out to God on behalf of the one we are praying for.  We seal off the gap with our own soul, agonizing over the state of things prayed for that are outside of God’s desire.  If we are praying for someone who has not found the truth, is resisting it, or persisting in sin that hurts others and offends God, then as we pray we must persist through our crowd of thoughts and impressions that throng about Him and determine to touch Him because of this bleeding in full confidence that we will finally experience the change within ourselves by His power that will seal the rift.  The old time pentacostal pray-ers called it “praying through” until the release was given and joy would spring forth in peace as a witness of faith that it would be done.  It is in this gap that we wrestle and persist until a release comes and the knots in the stomach give way to an unearthly peace of mind that knows God’s will shall be done.

“Few are they who by faith touch Him; multitudes are they who throng about Him.”
-Augustine 

The region of ancient Galatia was part of where modern Turkey is now.   Roman writers of the time referred to its inhabitants as “Galli” and noted that they spoke the same language as found in what became Germany along the Rhine.  They owed part of their origin to a great Celtic migration/invasion that occurred several hundred years before Christ.  They had been illiterate but gradually became ‘hellenized’ and absorbed into Greek culture.   From there they were introduced to the good news about God’s gift of Jesus by Paul, who travelled there as a missionary following his Lord, the chief Intercessor of all humanity.    Paul’s letter to the gatherings of believers in Galatia reveals his intercessory heart on their behalf.   It is a corrective letter and an encouraging one.  Paul pleads with them to adjust their course to continue to reduce the gap between their lives and God, while he himself stood in the middle, striving to do everything in his power to assist.   Paul poured his life out as an intercessor for many like this, and his letter to the dear “Galli” was one tool deployed for this purpose.  For me the book reaches a crescendo as he describes this very process at work in him:

“My dear children, for whom I am in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,…” Gal 4:19

This is touching on the heartbeat of intercession.  It has its beginnings in intimacy with Christ and allowing him to touch your inner being and trust his corrective guidance in all humility and submission as the Spirit penetrates your conscience and perspective on others.   It is through this process and experience that something new, often dripping with compassion, is conceived in the inward parts of the soul.  As it is fed by this relationship with him, it eventually needs to be brought forth.  Many have resisted the painful travail of soul for others that this kind of prayer requires and the results are stillborn.   But this is an encouragement to any that find the stirrings of compassion swelling to a painful ache to give it utterance in your prayers.  It may change you into an instrument for a new work, or provide a spiritual setting for others in which salvation can be wrought by his hand.

“In the same way, 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.”  Romans 8:26