music, coffee, and the charismatics

I have not updated in a long time. I wonder if anyone will read this.

a) Been listening to a lot of Dave’s hardcore music. I think I enjoy it, but more for novelty’s sake. For me, it doesn’t grip me, but maybe I am just not sensitive to its range of emotions and its subtleties. However, I have started enjoying the music of Cara Dillon. I don’t know if many people listen to her, maybe I have missed the chance to announce my loyalty and enjoy being new and hip, but alas I was introduced to her music only a few days ago at an azn coffee shop. She’s a Irish folk/traditional/pop singer, and has a very nice voice. Here is a good video of her - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97hp3adHaEk .

b) Speaking of coffee, been to a bunch of coffee places, but usually they are way overpriced (for CANADA). Got the worst coffee in Asia so far today, it was the equivalent of 43 cents CDN and had a hint of disgusting in it.

c) Just finished Charismatic Chaos, a critique of the charismatic movement by John Macarthur. Really good book, because like all good Christian books, the issues it raises lead straight back to the need for us to submit our beliefs and actions to the Word of God, our need to value Christ above all else, and the need for the Gospel to be preached throughout the world. Of course, many will disagree with his conclusions, but I recommend even the most hardcore charismatic read this book and be willing to submit to the truth of scripture (but of course be discerning as you read).

I will give one thought. A problem in charismatic Churches (and others, but I believe it is a problem more pronounced in the charismatic movement) is that often millions of people think that if they go to this Sunday service, or attend this revival meeting, or give this kind of “faith pledge”, or get touched by this “man of god”, they will skyrocket in sanctification. However, being transformed into the image of Christ is a slow process which requires time, study, submission, hard work, and suffering. There is no quick fix that will take you to the next level of Holiness. At cru, it was sometimes easy to think that spiritual maturity can happen really quickly. We want to win, build, and send in 4 years or less. However, I’ve seen that it is really dangerous to give the impression to young believers that spiritual maturity can happen really quickly. You can be a “spiritual multiplier”, but you still need years before you’ll be mature.

I have been given big responsibilities in the past. I’ve been a leader at Church and school. I’ve Preached the Word, and I’m a missionary right now. But even being here – seeing my impatience, my lack of love, my lack of focus, my prayerlessness, my inability to have God’s heart for the lost, my love affair with comfort and my stomach, all these things have conspired against me to remind me that sanctification takes time, and I’m nowhere near the kind of man that God desires to make me in the decades to come. Being in the min has given me a lot of skills and maybe some competency, but it has not given me the kind of heart that will take years for God to transform. And that is not because He is unable to, but it is the way He has chosen to work.

Whether you are a charismatic or a hardcore cessationist, we should all give up seeking superspiritual highs, and instead seek daily intimate fellowship with and submission to God.

That is all.