"Awaken this generation" - a post by Israel Wignall (my son)

"Wow...I almost started weeping while leading worship tonight at youth group...

There is so much coming against this younger generation--these kids are going through hard, sorrowful things. Cutting, self-mutilation, depression, suicide, sexual perversion (and the culture being ok with sexual perversion), divorce, broken homes, no fathers, no mothers....so many of these kids are literally walking ...through hell. But Jesus has such powerful destinies planned out for each and every one of these kids--it's insane the plans He has for them.

Friends, it's time to invest, pray. fast, and intercede for this younger generation here in America. Maybe this younger generation is the generation that will help usher in a revival here in America, or the generation that victoriously walks through tribulation before Jesus comes back. I just feel such a burden for this generation.

Jesus, I pray that you would send an awakening to this younger generation of youth here in America--I pray that you would raise up prophets, intercessors, musicians, evangelists, and missionaries out of this younger generation--that you would captivate their hearts with love and passion for You."

 

                                                                  -Izzy Wignall

Brian's thought for the day

Who do you choose to put your trust in when things are hard and when nothing seems to make sense? Who do you lean into when facing loss or hardship? When it seems like everything in your life has been uprooted their is still somebody that you can depend on. Your heavenly father loves you and wants you to rest in him even when the storms of life seem out of control. The more you seek him the more clearly you will be able to see his heart for you. The more you look to him--the more you will be able to be at peace even when circumstances seem overwhelming.  - Brian


"Come to me, all you were weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28–30

Living in the matrix

Just yesterday I watched one of my favorite science fiction movies--“Matrix”.  In that movie the main character, a software engineer Thomas (Neo) Anderson, receives a cryptic message on his computer instructing him to “follow the white rabbit”.  This contact begins a series of events which culminates in a meeting with an individual named Morpheus.  During his meeting with Morpheus, Neo is asked if he wants to know what the matrix is.  He is then told that “It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you to the truth”.  Morpheus then gives him two pills.  Neo is informed that if he takes the blue pill, he “will forget everything that transpired and go back to life as normal.  However, if he takes the red pill, “you stay in wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”  After choosing to take the red pill, Neo finds out that there is a war that has been going on for thousands of years that he was completely unaware of.  He learns that his world is actually a wasteland devastated by an ancient war between humanity and machines.  The truth of that reality however had been concealed behind an elaborate façade created by malevolent cyber intelligence. 

    Have you ever felt like you might be living in a matrix?  That there is a reality behind the scenes that is far different than what you are currently experiencing?  I came to that realization myself just 18 months ago.  My “red pill” was going through the trauma of seeing the unwanted dissolution of my 25 year marriage combined with losing my home, my family’s business (Havilah’s Boutique) and my financial security.  Being in that place of desperation however often enables a person to see clearly what God is doing in and around them.  In my case that hardship caused me to fervently seek God in a way I never had before.  I discovered, just like Neo, there is a battle going on all around me that I had been unaware of.  We are in a battle that began long before we were born with an adversary much more sinister than the machines from the matrix.  This battle however is a spiritual one and our enemy and his forces are ever present whether we choose to acknowledge them or not.  I also became aware that my view of God’s desire to interact with me was flawed.  Our heavenly father isn’t satisfied only being involved with us on Sunday from 0930 to 1100 and he also isn’t a powerless deity content to sit on the sidelines.  If you are Christ follower going through hardship and what you are facing seems overwhelming, keep in mind that we serve a God, so powerful, that He created everything with just a spoken word.  We serve a God that isn’t bound by any law of science and can intervene in the natural world at will.  Our God can stop the rotation of the earth, part the seas, and even has dominion over life and death.  And that omniscient and omnipotent creator loves us profoundly and wants to partner with us in bringing his kingdom to earth.  We live in a magical world concealed behind a mask of normalcy to blind us from the truth.  To break out of it however all we need to do is know our true identity as princes and princesses in the kingdom, Know who our father is and have eyes to see what our father is doing.  So are you ready to take the red pill?

  

Ephesians 6:11-12  - “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Romans 8:38-39, " For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Psalm 91:1-16, He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day. 

Being the hands and feet of Jesus.

    The other night I was watching the DVD collection of the old TV series “Highway to Heaven” starring Michael Landon.  I love that show!  The show (for those who haven’t seen it) was about an angel named Jonathan Smith (Landon) and his best friend/sidekick Mark Gordon.  In the show, Jonathan’s mission is to travel from town to town at God’s prompting doing good deeds and helping people in need.  As I was watching that show I couldn’t help but think, how neat would it be, to be an angel on a mission from God to help and show love to those around me?     

    So often we get so caught up in our own personal trauma that we stop noticing the hurting and the broken.  According to Jesus, one of the greatest commandments is to “love your neighbor as you love yourself”.  But what are some tangible ways that we can love our neighbor?  One of the things that God has been putting on my heart is the desire to help others and set an example of what this verse really means.  About 12 years ago God gave me an opportunity to learn how to walk this one out.  I was on the way to go shopping in Castleton after a hard days work when I noticed a young man standing beside his broken down car on the side of Allisonville rd.  He was standing outside of his car (an older Caprice I think?) and his car had apparently overheated as smoke was wafting out of the cars grill.  Upon noticing this, I pulled over behind him and I asked him if I could help.  He simply asked if I could drop him at the gas station up the road so that he could get some water to fill up his cars radiator.  I drove him to the gas station and when we arrived he told me he would walk back.  I then proceeded to go shopping-- feeling quite good about myself for doing my good deed for the day.  On the way back home (approximately 1 hour later) I noticed thick black smoke on the horizon as I drove towards that location on Allisonville road again.  As I drove up to where I had earlier met the young man--I noticed that his Caprice had caught fire and burned to the ground.  Standing near the burned out car was the owner and a couple of firemen who were finishing hosing the car down.  As I drove by the scene I felt a soft voice speaking to my heart and prompting me to stop and give this young man my cash deposit for the day.  You see, I own a small electronics store and although I hadn’t yet counted my deposit, I knew I had a decent sized sum with me that day.  As I drove by the location I thought of all the reasons why I shouldn’t give this money to this guy.  Maybe I didn’t hear God’s voice correctly?  I began to justify why I needed that money myself.  My business was still struggling through tremendous financial adversity and I had so many bills due.  My house payment was almost 30 days late and my car payment was also late.  Why would I give a large amount of money to someone I don’t even know?  So I drove past the man, ignoring the voice inside, and began headed home.  Before I was 15 minutes down the road, I again felt that voice in my heart softly speaking to me to help this guy.  It was so overwhelming that I had to pull over.  As I sat on the road side pondering what I should do, I called one of my close friends and told her the story.  I asked her a simple question, do you think that it was God speaking to me or was that idea just mine?  Knowing me as well as she did, she jokingly replied that if I was feeling the compulsion to give someone money --it was obviously God. (Lol)   So I got back on the road and headed back towards the burned out Caprice.  When I arrived, the owner of the car was standing alongside a fireman and filling out paperwork.  His eyes were red and swollen and he was obviously very disheartened.  As he noticed me walk up--he thanked me for earlier giving him a ride.  I told him that I was sorry when I saw what happened.  As I handed him an envelope containing my store deposit, I explained to him that God told me to give him the envelope.  As he opened it and in stunned silence looked at the cash inside-- I told him “God sees you and wants you to have this money to help get another car”.  As he began to thank me—I simply told him that it wasn’t my idea—but the creator of the universe wanted him to know that he was profoundly loved by his father in heaven.  I then turned and walked towards my own car as tears were welling up in his eyes.  As I drove back home that evening I was so thankful that God gave me an opportunity to be used to help someone.  I was also thankful that although it was my first inclination to ignore that soft voice in my heart—I was given another opportunity to go back and be obedient to what God called me to do. 
   
    What if we as Christians started being intentional in looking for ways to show Christ’s love to those around us?  What if we, like the angel from Highway to heaven, began to look at ourselves as being on a mission from God to love those around us? What if Christ-followers started doing good deeds for no other reason but to honor God by loving our neighbors?  What if we began praying that God would give us the eyes to see the many needs around us—and then simply tried to meet those needs?  When we noticed that single mom standing in line to buy groceries for her four small children—we paid her bill for her.  When we hear about the older woman whose heat was cut off—we paid her bill for her.  When we find out about the family who was about to lose their home in a tax sale —we pay off that debt anonymously.  Think about it, because changing the world for Christ begins by helping the person right next to you.       

 

1 John 4:7  Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

"Preach the gospel always, If necessary use words." ~ Francis of Assisi

Precious Children in the Hands of a "Loving" God.

I remember being assigned to read the sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God while in a composition class at Carmel Junior High School.  That sermon was written by theologian and preacher Jonathan Edwards in 1741.  The picture of God painted by this puritanical preacher was of an angry, spiteful and judgmental deity.  While reading this as a teenager, it definitely didn't inspire me to run into the arms of my beloved heavenly father.  Instead, this sermon caused me to want to hide from the one who loves me the most.  One paragraph in this sermon stated that "The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times so abominable in his eyes as the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours."

    Although a classic piece of 1700's literature--Jonathan Edwards couldn't have been more wrong about the character of the God he proposed to speak about. 
    I think a lot of us have developed an opinion of God that to some extent is similar to the God that Jonathan Edwards spoke about. Life experiences have often soured us to the idea of having (or even wanting) a personal relationship with God.  We misinterpret hardship as God's displeasure and misinterpret loneliness or financial trauma as abandonment. A lot of these feelings are even more intense when going through trauma like a divorce.  Often the hurts and wounds that we have experienced in life color our ability to see God's true character and heart. Like trying to look at someone clearly through cataracts--what we wind up seeing is a hazy distortion of the reality. Jesus came so that we can know God fully and view him through clear lenses. God's heart for us is that he loves us like precious children. He knows all of our flaws and weaknesses yet loves us nevertheless.  He sent his beloved son, Jesus, so that we might understand his profound love and compassion for us.  It was our heavenly fathers biggest desire that through experiencing his love for us--we might be forever changed.  God wants our relationship with him to transform us into the people we were destined to be.  He wants us to live righteous lives--but that righteousness should flow out of our intimacy with God.  No matter how you are feeling right now or what you are going through--rest assured that you have a heavenly father that loves you. God knows what's going on in your life and yearns for you to call out to him in the hard times.  Even if you aren't quite sure how you feel about God or aren't even sure if you believe in him, it's ok. God believes in you, loves you deeply and earnestly desires for you to know him.  Below are a few verses that talk about who God is and how he feels about us.

1 John 4:9-11 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

 

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Psalm 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

Lonely but never alone.

    Over the last eight months life has changed for me quite a bit. Even something as simple as "dating" has been a learning experience as the last "first date" I had was as a 17 year old. One thing I have learned about myself over the last eight months is that I really don't like being single.  I remember hearing a sermon in the past about the "gift" of singleness.  Now I know that some people are called to live a life of singleness serving Christ and I have tremendous respect for those men and women.  I however am not wired that way.  I remember thinking when I heard that sermon about the gift of singleness, that I would return that gift immediately upon receipt (lol).  That “gift” in my opinion would almost be like receiving the "gift of an IRS tax audit" or the "gift of a receding hairline."  Back then I never thought I would have to experience being single again.  Yet here I am, a single guy, at the age of 48.  Rather unexpectedly I lost my identity as a husband and a provider.   Due to that experience it has been a real process walking through some pretty large foundational changes in both my life and how I view myself.    
    An analogy I would use to illustrate the trauma of losing your spouse--would be to sustain a severe battlefield injury.  Being a Soldier I have had the opportunity to speak to veterans that have been severely injured in combat.  The trauma of divorce to me is like losing your right arm (to the shoulder) in combat.  After losing a limb, I have been told, that often you can still feel your fingers tingling even though your arm is gone.  That phenomenon is called "phantom limb pain" and it's medically documented.  Also people that lose limbs in combat, for quite awhile, forget that the limb is even gone.  It takes awhile before they stop subconsciously attempting to reach out and pick up something with the arm that is no longer there.  
    With divorce (or any loss of a spouse or a child) you may experience similar symptoms.  You might wake up in the morning forgetting that your life has changed.  Whereas you previously had someone to talk to when you got home from work--you now come home to overwhelming silence.  Whereas you previously had someone to sit beside at church--you now find yourself sitting alone.  You even find yourself attending Bible studies, movies or even going to restaurants by yourself.  Something as simple as shopping for groceries can even be painful.  While navigating the aisles near the floral display--that’s when it might hit you that you no longer have anyone to buy flowers for.  
    Regardless of what loss you are experiencing now, remember that although at times you might feel lonely--you are never alone because you have a heavenly father that loves you profoundly. Most importantly, God wants to meet you in that place of loneliness and longing.  Below are a few verses that had been encouraging to me as I walked through the trauma of divorce.

　
　

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
　

Psalm 68:5-7, “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.”

Romans 8:35-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

dropping the masks that we wear

   

Last week a woman had visited my retail store (Soundsational Car Audio) to purchase a stereo for her son’s car. While having her son’s car worked on--she started opening up with me about her life.  While talking, somehow we got onto the topic of Christianity (although I'm sure anybody that knows me wouldn't be surprised by that).  After talking for a while she told me that she had been a long time member of a large church in the area but that she had recently stopped attending. Although she had been a very active member of her women's bible study group for over 10 years, she confided in me that she just couldn't play the game any longer.  She said “if the women in my bible study knew how I really felt or how much of a mess my life was, they would be shocked."  I was saddened by the fact that this woman had been attending this bible study for years yet never felt comfortable opening up with anyone about what was going on in her life.  I then went on and assured her that if she knew what was really going on behind the scenes in many of those women's lives she would also be surprised.

      Why do we hide behind masks in the Church?  The Church should be the one place where it’s safe to be yourself.  Yet instead of being "real", we work hard to project an image of “having it all together” when many times we are simply broken people who have learned to hide our brokenness.  Often times we don't live "authentically" because we are afraid of being judged.  Honestly, around many church folk that's a very real concern.  My personal experience however has shown me that the people that react the most negatively to those of us who try to be transparent--are the people that are working the hardest at keeping their own masks in place.  The problem about hiding who we are inside is the fact that God already knows who we are. He created us and although he knows every flaw that we have--He still loves us dearly. God knows us and loves us profoundly.  He doesn’t want us hiding behind a façade  but instead wants us to take our pain, doubts, fears and weaknesses and lay those things down at his feet. It's God's desire that we would allow his love to transform us from the inside out--not that we simply become religious and look the part.  Change and growth can only occur when we are honest with ourselves.  Isn’t it interesting that the people that were truly honest about their own weakness and failure were the ones that Jesus was attracted to. One of my favorite Bible stories was in Luke 18:9-14, “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”       

    The best way to stop wearing the mask is to start being authentic with who you are.  When "Christ followers" start being transparent about their pain and weakness while they are in the church, often times something amazing happens.  It gives those other believers around them permission to do the same.  When we start being authentic around non-believers it allows them to not only see that you don't have to be perfect to be a Christian--it also allows them to see the difference that God's presence makes in our lives as he walks us through the hard times.  I'll be intentional right now and I'll start by being transparent about myself.  My life is a mess.  I am broken, lonely and have very few answers.  But the God I serve loves to take broken lives and turn them into something beautiful.  I’m glad I have learned the secret of not hiding my weakness. I’m also grateful that I am part of a church that values being authentic and walking in transparency.  Remember, God does not require that you come to him perfect--He just asks you to come to him. 

Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

2 Cor. 12:19, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”