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Turn The Tables On Me

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In 1517, an obscure Catholic priest named Martin Luther placed his life in God’s hands when he nailed his 95 theses, his 95 arguments against the Catholic church, on the door of the Wittenberg Church. There was nothing wrong with nailing pages to the door. Everything was posted there for everyone to read. It was the community bulletin board. But Martin Luther had been studying the Bible personally and realized that Catholic ceremonies did nothing to dispense grace and the church had no right to sell indulgences. Salvation is received through faith in Jesus. His 95 theses specified errors of the Catholic church in the light of personal Bible study. He began his argument by stating: Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Theses 1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.

As a result of this simple, but obedient action, Heaven came down, and Hell broke loose, as a firestorm of revolt, and controversy erupted within the Catholic Church, and the countries it held sway over. The 95 Theses confronted many of the injustices, beliefs, and wicked practices of the Catholic Church, its Pope, cardinals and priests. Luther’s action created a ground swell of what was later called the Protestant Reformation.

2000 years ago the greatest event in human history occurred through Jesus’ week of Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. During the week leading up to His Crucifixion Jesus created His own firestorm by entering the Temple grounds and driving out the money changers, and those involved with the sale of sacrificial animals. This action ultimately led to the verdict to crucify Him.

As we have noted in earlier blogs, self-centeredness, and fear strangles faith blocking any attempts of the Spirit of God from rising within us to new heights. Our floor becomes our ceiling as our feet remain firmly rooted to the ground of self. Making matters worse is the introduction of man-serving, self centered religion. Instead of being molded and shaped into the Imago Dei (Image of God), conformed to the Image of Jesus, we only become more corrupted images of our self. Self-serving, man created religion, crucifies Jesus afresh every time it is practiced, discounting His Resurrection Power.

In 1992 a man invited me to join him and another for prayer at our church. I was on staff as a youth minister. My passion, and heart at this time was to see revival break out in our church, and country. During this season of prayer I was challenged by the Spirit of God to begin praying for revival to come to my life. I took the challenge ignorant of the adventure that awaited me. During this season of prayer, and seeking, the Lord revealed the nastiness of my bitterness, anger, unforgiveness, lust, and demonic strongholds. The final challenge came through a song I was listening to written by Mylon Lefevre, entitled, Turn The Tables On Me. The lyrics which got my attention, and the Lord used as a challenge, were the following:

My heart belongs to Jesus, But it’s trapped inside of me, Trying to live for Him, But the world won’t let me be, I know my spirit’s willing, But my flesh is not as strong, I want to do what’s right, Oh, but sometimes I’m so wrong. Buyers, sellers, Cheaters, liars, Have had their way too long inside of me. Jesus, Master, Take this temple, set me free
(Jesus, set me free) Turn the tables on me.

As I listened to this song the Holy Spirit whispered, Can you pray that? And my response? Go For it Lord! I chuckle as I write this thinking back to the arrogant, self-centered individual I was at this time. Little did I know what that simple agreement would ignite in my life, and my life has never been the same. I want to challenge the few people that read these blogs to accept that same challenge, inviting Jesus to come to your temple (Which really belongs to Him) and clean house. You don’t have to pray as violent as the song, but maybe that’s the kind of fearless, passion you need to be set free from all that has prevented you from becoming who He has made you to be. As I repeatedly state, Jesus made you for more than coming to a building, looking at the back of someone’s head, and calling it Church (or worse calling it worship). Jesus has made you for more than pre-setting your radio stations to Christian radio. Jesus has made you for more that pasting a fish on the back of your car, or wearing Christian T-shirts. He has called you to be a son or daughter of the Most High God. He has called you to co-reign with Him in this foreign country we call Earth. Don’t you desire for Jesus to loose His reformation in you?

Flashpoint

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Tiananmen Square, Boston Tea Party, Woodstock, the fall of the Berlin wall, Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses, Mount Hermon 100, Azusa Street, every revolution has one defining moment that is remembered long after the names of politicians and kings have been forgotten. In every massive shift in human history, whether political, cultural, or religious, a flash point occurs. Cultural sea changes, whether for good or evil, are spawned in these flashpoints. Such rare slivers of time actually define destinies, as key men and women seek to courageously shape the future, by articulating ideas that “ignite the circuit between the individual and the masses and thereby alter history. Great leaders and great ideas succeed when events have prepared the way for them when the community is waiting to be aroused” – Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.

I believe The Send, February 23, 2019, was a significant flashpoint inaugurating hope for a new era of explosive evangelism and global missions. What preceded The Send was 7 years of 7  forty day seasons of fasting and continuous praying the Great Idea of Jesus Christ, “Pray the Lord of the Harvest to send forth laborers into His harvest.”
A flash point requires leaders to articulate those thoughts, passions, and aspirations quietly groaned for in the heart of the masses. You see, when the response to a ripe moment with a right message is magnified by a Collective Readiness – “when the community is waiting to be aroused” – widespread explosive action inevitably results. In scripture, this is described as, “the fullness of times”. We are entering a “fullness of times era”.

The 1960s was a decade of turbulence and societal upheaval. Everything was shaking but the chaotic milieu created a fullness of time moment for the 1970s. The Jesus Movement exploded on the scenes where thousands of hippies and disillusioned young people ran to Christ. Jesus was on the front page of magazines and newspapers. 100,000 believers gathered for a Jesus People flashpoint in the Cotton Bowl in 1972. Jesus was the idea whose time had fully come. Thousands of young people were saved and baptized and hurled forth into the harvest fields. Many of the great leaders of the church today were forged from the season of the 70s.

Now 50 years later, the world is in upheaval again. But I hear the sound of another Jesus Movement exploding on the scene. Stadiums will be filled. Mass harvest will be reaped. The revolutionary prayer idea in Matthew 9:38 articulated by our Great Leader Jesus Christ Himself is connecting the circuit between Him and the Christian masses thus now altering history. This is a revolution in one verse that connects the prayer movement and the missions movement. “PRAY the Lord of the Harvest to SEND laborers into His harvest.” The church is waiting to be aroused and the great PRAY and GO idea is building for the billion soul harvest. Oh brothers and sisters, let the Great Idea explode. PRAY EKBALLO!