Just Doin’ My Job

One can only imagine what the overloaded schedule of a CEO or a political figure must be like. From dawn to dark, official duties, non-stop planning, reviewing and supervising swallow up hours in huge gulps. The President, for example, oversees at least 117 federal agencies, including all the branches of the military, the Social Security Administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U. S. Postal Service, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the CIA , the IRS , NASA, the GSA, the FTC, the FDIC, and the FCC all the way down to the National Indian Gaming Commission. And that’s only 17 out of the 117! As of the latest statistics, the U. S. Government employs nearly four million people. Each one has a job description, a rated salary, a benefits package and an employee file. As unwieldy as the U. S. federal government may be, the public still holds the President responsible for all mistakes and mismanagement that occur at any level in any agency in his charge. The bureaucratic debacle of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, painfully reminded the President that all problems ascend up the chain of command to the Oval Office.

Massive bureaucracies like the U. S. Government and huge corporations like Microsoft and General Motors function only on the clear understanding that everyone has a job to do. The President has to be able to hand a huge responsibility over to a trusted public servant and ask him or her to do the job. Every day, thousands of bosses hand over boxes—-or hard drives—-full of files to thousands of workers and trust them to do their jobs. Maybe processing the file of a single employee out of the millions of people seems utterly insignificant, but it has to be done. The President counts on the lowly worker, umpteen levels down in the federal scale, to faithfully discharge his or her duties. Like the branches of a tree, individual employees may be far from the trunk, but they must still understand their connection to the trunk. They may say, “I work for the U. S. Government”, or “I work for Microsoft”, but they have specific jobs and work for specific managers. They may be floaters, part of the pooled resources or general employees, but they don’t wander around, unattached, doing whatever they feel like doing. They work within prescribed guidelines and policies and are accountable to real bosses.

Just because the church is a spiritual entity does not exempt it from operating in real time with real people. Jesus validated the tree-like structure for the church when he said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches.” The branches of a vine, or a tree, grow in a hierarchical configuration. Every branch owes its existence, its support and it nourishment to the trunk. Paul enlarged on this concept in 1 Corinthians 12:14-18. “For the body is not one member, but many…18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” The effectiveness of the church as an organization depends on each individual member performing his or her job with all seriousness and dedication. The apostle says as much in his epistle. “And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. But God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.” 1 Corinthians 12:21-25

The church achieves maximum efficiency when the people show up to work every day ready and eager to perform well. Unfortunately, too many of us discard the Jesus model of the church when it doesn’t fit with our mood. Do these complaints sound familiar?

I don’t like my job . Maybe not, but doing a job you don’t like now prepares you for something better later on. Decide to like it. Want to be promoted? Promotion is based on attitude as much as skill.

My job is not important. Do you mean to say that you are more important than your job? Your job may not be important to you, but it is to someone. If Jesus thinks it’s important, it is.

I don’t like the way you do your job . You can criticize or you can help. Pray, don’t judge.

I don’t feel appreciated. Contentment comes from a job well done, not from being noticed.

I can’t do my job because I don’t have all the resources that I need. Are you whining? Whiners never have what they need to get the job done. Winners succeed against all odds. Go figure.

I want your job. Why? Do you want the glory and the recognition that you think goes with the other guy’s job? Are you eaten up with envy? Are you aware of the pressures involved? See number one.

I can do your job better than you can. Or, maybe not. It may be more difficult than you think. Whatever your reasoning, it does not excuse you to under-perform in your present position. If you want a better job, pray for the promotion of whoever is doing it now.

Instead of asking for more appreciation, appreciate more that you have even a minor role in the world’s greatest entity—-the church! I want to do my job. You should want to do your job. When all of us do our jobs with faithfulness and enthusiasm, Jesus wins.

Will Azusa Survive A Second Century?

During the last week of April, 2006, celebrants by the thousands flocked to the Azusa Street site in Los Angeles , the birthplace of Pentecostalism in the modern era. In crowded busses, animated tour guides retold the compelling story of William Seymour, a one-eyed, African-American, born of slaves after the Civil War, who overcame impossible odds to lead a revival that has touched an estimated 600 million souls. In addition to the tours of the house on Bonnie Brae Street and the site of the humble Apostolic Faith Gospel Mission on Azusa Street, now an open-aired, bricked plaza, the anniversary spawned scores of events and attracted some of the most popular names in Pentecostal circles. Separate groups sponsored their own events in locations scattered across the metro area, from LA’s Convention Center to the Sports Coliseum. The cry echoed most frequently from numerous platforms and stages was a plea for renewal.

The United Pentecostal Church , International shares the common heritage of Azusa Street with other Pentecostals, and we took full advantage of the centennial to rekindle the Holy Ghost fire. UPCI tours, however, also trekked to the Arroyo Seco camp in the San Gabriel foothills where, amid the walnut and citrus trees, not far from the present Rose Bowl, notables like Frank Ewart, Glenn Cook and G. T. Haywood openly discussed the revelation of baptism in Jesus’ name and the oneness of the Godhead in the summer of 1913. A year later, Ewart and Cook baptized each other in a baptismal tank set up in the camp meeting tent. Haywood returned to Indianapolis and baptized his entire congregation of nearly 500 people. These momentous events signified that the message of Acts 2:38 had now fully blossomed.

Thus began the first one hundred years of the Azusa revival. But, for many Pentecostals, the second century looms with the original luster gone. Media outlets report that some of the largest groups who trace their roots to Azusa admit that only forty percent of their adherents claim the tongues experience, and for some, the ratio has sunk to below twenty percent. Large numbers have slipped into a generic form of Christianity, neither experiencing nor seeking the explosive spiritual phenomena that catapulted Seymour ’s prayer meetings into a world-wide movement. Modern era Pentecostals seem far less enthralled by the outpouring of heavenly fire than were their anointed founders.

In marked contrast to these reports, however, those attending the UPCI events in LA saw a resurgence of Holy Ghost power. At the Korean-owned Olympic Sports Stadium, where the oneness Pentecostals held packed-out meetings, nearly 500 persons received the Acts 2:4 baptism of the Holy Ghost during drama, preaching services and the Friday night Holy Ghost crusade! Added to that number were over 350 who received the baptism in area churches during the three week build-up to the centennial celebration. One reporter who observed the exuberant worship, dancing in the Spirit and the tongue-talking at the Olympic Stadium services asked, “Is this what happened at the original Azusa revival? I don’t see this at the other Pentecostal venues.” UPCI leaders were only too happy to answer in the affirmative. Indeed, the headlines in the 1906 newspapers that screamed, “Weird Babel of Tongues”, and “Wild Scene Last Night on Azusa Street” could have easily described the 2006 meetings on Grand Avenue. The Korean pastor’s daughter was among those who received the Holy Ghost baptism during the week, and the church group pled with UPCI officials to schedule another crusade for next spring.

In my view, not only will Azusa survive another century—-should Christ delay the rapture of his church—-it may very well burgeon into a second wave of revival, not only of the Spirit infilling, but also of the revelation of the mighty God in Christ and of the name of Jesus. I note with great excitement that the oneness Pentecostals, in a major break with precedent, were asked to participate in the centennial by the Azusa Street 100, the official steering committee of the celebration. Furthermore, they asked our General Superintendent, Kenneth Haney, to sit on the rostrum and join the list of twenty-nine speakers at a combined celebratory service. This invitation, and our follow-up participation, positions us at a strategic time and place in religious history. God purposely set the date of the first century outpouring to take place on the Jewish feast called Pentecost, when multitudes of people representing seventeen different languages would witness the miracle. The twentieth century Azusa revival coincided with the San Francisco earthquake when people’s hearts were vulnerable to hear from heaven. One hundred years later, in April of 2006, the oneness Pentecostals showed up at a time and place where our unique message could be heard and judged fairly by the world.

This is a fabulous time to be a oneness Pentecostal. Frank Bartleman, an Azusa Street pioneer, said “I would rather live six months at that time than fifty years of ordinary life!” With all due respect, I think we may be on the cusp of challenging Mr. Bartleman’s statement. The world is about to hear of the Apostolic faith that transformed the lives of our founders and continues to break out today. Pentecostals, let the fire fall! The world has had religion. It is sick of religion. It is ready for an experience!

What Happens in Vegas

Have you heard about the woman who tried to dry off her poodle in the microwave? Or the deaf man and woman who were killed for signing hand signals of a rival gang? Or the scuba diver that drowned in a forest fire, or the baby left on the car roof? We call these tall tales urban legends. In addition, cultural myths circulate in our society…like the alligators found in the sewers of NYC; or college students have to wait 15 minutes if the professor is late for class; or you shouldn’t flash your bright lights at people because they will kill you. All pure mythology.

Here’s a myth that too many people believe: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. One would think that it is some sort of law. Bumper stickers even say, “WHiVSiV.” (It’s a line of clothing.) And then, I came across these Phil Vassar lyrics, “What happens in Vegas is just between us; Ain’t nobody’s business what anyone does; You can let down your hair, be as wild as you dare; Go crazy, do something outrageous; But what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” In fact, this phrase has been dubbed the most powerful advertising slogan of all time.

The insidious intent behind this phrase is that there are vacuums in which sin is free. It posits that there are actually “safe zones” that exist in which a person can sin and not be held accountable. But the Bible says, “Be sure your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32:23). Also, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7-8). Can you smoke in Vegas and have no cancer risk anywhere else? Can you murder in Vegas without penalty back home? Can you lie, cheat, steal, drink, gamble, or be unfaithful in Vegas with impunity? I think not. Life is interconnected. Sin one area of life causes repercussions in other areas. What happens in Vegas follows people home. But, there are other sinister lies that world believes as well.

My sin affects only me. No. Sin affects other people. Exodus 32:21. “And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?” The characters flaws and unrepented sins that were lodged in the heart of Aaron did not exist in a vacuum. Aware of it or not, his sins impacted Israel . Our actions find formulation within the confines of the heart. The tarnished heart, the misguided spirit and the corrupted soul shapes the message that proceeds from the mouth into destructive plans for others. Jesus said, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.” Matthew 15:18.

I can stop whenever I want to stop. No. Sin entraps. Moses predicted this unforeseen result of sin in Exodus 23:33. “They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.” Like the ancient Chinese finger trap, one may easily enter into the act of sin, but soon find that it is impossible to back out of it. One man found out that the sweet little clingy teenager who only needed the comfort of a strong male figure in her life turned into vicious, manipulative hustler once she had him in her clutches. Also, just as every coin has an obverse and reverse, every individual act of sin has two sides: Commit the sin; Cover the sin. The instant a sin is committed the flip side comes into play.

I can manage my weakness. No. Sin opens the door to other sins. “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:23. How can rebellion possibly be related to witchcraft? How could iniquity ever share common ground with stubbornness and idolatry? Because all branches of sin grow from the same trunk. That’s why John the Baptist said, “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees.” Matthew 3:10. The root of offense gives rise to many sinful branches. Saul did not conquer his initial disobedience; therefore, he experienced a chain reaction of repeated sin and tragedy in his life. David’s lust led to adultery; his adultery led to deceit; his deceit led to murder. Once the essence of sin gains admission into one’s life, it brings with it the seeds of further transgressions. James said, “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” James 3:16.

God will forgive me. Yes, if you repent and forsake your sin. Sin cannot go unpunished. “And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree.” Deuteronomy 21:22. When we sweep sin under the rug, when we treat it differently from person to person or when we simply let it go unpunished, the sinning person gets a false view of God’s justice. We cannot afford to be dismissive, tolerant or defensive of sin. Without consequences, sin loses its dread. A diminished view of sin means a diminished view of Calvary . Ambivalence toward sin casts doubt on the efficacious blood of Jesus.

Operate your life out of truth, not mythology. Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”

You Owe Me

I am alive.  I am a life.

And, it’s not my fault. Therefore, I cannot be held accountable for myself. I am your responsibility. You are obligated to see that I have everything I need in life and from life. I didn’t ask to be born. I didn’t ask to be given a rotten set of parents. I didn’t ask for an alcohol gene, a predisposition to drug addiction, a weakness for illicit sex, weak nerves, low metabolism or an inability to get a decent job. All this stuff was just dumped on me without my permission.

Given better circumstances, I would only be too happy to take care of myself. In fact, if I had what you have, I would take care of you too. I am not asking you to do anything that I would not do myself. I’ve shown that I am willing to do my part. I’ve mowed the lawn a lot of times. I shoveled the snow off the sidewalk last winter when it was really cold outside. I’ve even found a way to cook supper when we couldn’t get food stamps on time. So, don’t tell me I’m lazy and I don’t care.

I see you walking down the street, hand in hand with your spouse and acting all lovey-dovey. Don’t you ever stop and think how much that hurts people who aren’t married or who live in abusive relationships? I watch as you flip open your purple-swirl cell phone in front of me and call for an appointment to service your late-model car, knowing that I don’t have a cell phone or a car? I hear you talk about your trip to the mall, plan your vacation and complain that you couldn’t find accessories to match your clothes. And how insensitive are you to tell me you are thinking about building a new home? It’s like you enjoy walking all over me.

You are so wrapped up in yourself, in having birthday parties for your kids, in paying for your new carpet, and in buying your second car (I wish I had just one car that would run) that you don’t know what it’s like to be me. You ought to be ashamed for having all these things and letting me live like a pauper.

Since you don’t put up with any of my hassles, you owe the less fortunate in life a lot. I don’t know exactly how it happens, but I know you are getting rich off people like me. Without us peons, you couldn’t be so high and mighty. We wait on your tables, baby-sit your kids, wash your cars and pay rent for your dilapidated apartments that were built before WWI. Well, it’s not fair and you know it. Simple fairness dictates that I am equal to you. I am sick and tired of you passing me by with your nose stuck in the air, not noticing that I have needs too. It’s not right that you should get everything that life has to offer and I get nothing. Payback time is here and you owe me.

Get a job, you say. Yeah, like jobs are out there growing on trees! Besides, you won’t let me get a job because you won’t give me an education. You won’t let me get an education because you won’t take care of my kids so I can go to school. You won’t let me think straight enough to go to school because you won’t clean up the drugs, alcohol, gangs and crime on the streets. You let me get addicted to crack cocaine and then want to punish me for trying to survive. You want my kids to have both male and female role models, then you rip into me for allowing a live-in companion. You know I’m susceptible to all kinds of bad things, yet you want to blame me for being the way I am. I have attention deficit disorder, bi-polar disorder, low-nourishment because of the potato chips, hot dogs and soda pop I have to buy, plus a lot of other syndromes directly related to the social problems of life that you and all your rich friends in the big-time corporate world created. I don’t even have enough money to get my TV repaired!

I have a right to the same medicine, hospitalization and insurance that you have.  I have a right to the same food, clothing and shelter that you have.  I have a right to take vacations and own pet German schnauzers like you do.  I have a right to shop in the same stores and buy the same stuff that you do.  I have a right to the same quality of life, peace and contentment that you enjoy.  I have a right to the same respect that you get from everyone else. 

Ante up. I’ve got things to do. The lady at the unemployment bureau told me I had to apply for at least three jobs a week or I wouldn’t get my check. And, let me tell you, I work as hard as you do, running all over town submitting these silly résumés.  If you turn me down, you are obviously mean, nasty, greedy and selfish.

And you call yourself a Christian?

The Life and Death of Liberals

For those who have the stomach for it, take a look at all the things liberals want. I hope and pray that this is a spoof piece.

• They want to stop us from eating chicken, beef, venison, fish and all other meat.
• They want to prohibit us from eating any fatty, unhealthy foods.
• They want to eliminate sports utility vehicles from the road.
• They want to set the agenda for all sex education in the country.
• They want to determine what goes on in the lives of American homes and families.
• They want to penalize marriage partners through imposing higher taxes on them.
• They want to supply drug addicts with clean needles.
• They want to do away with all competitive sports.
• They want industries to be one-hundred percent pollution-free or be shut down.
• They want absolutely no more nuclear power plants to be built.
• They want to ban all firearms, thus rescinding the Second Amendment by fiat.
• They want to force parents to accept a homosexual as their kid’s Boy Scout Leader.
• They want to run the national health care system.
• They want to continue legal infanticide through partial-birth abortion.
• They want to give doctors authority to euthanize the elderly, terminally ill and profoundly retarded. They want men and women to use the same unisex restrooms.
• They want to minimize or abolish the differences between the sexes.
• They want to severely limit the internal combustion engine.
• They want tree-cutting to be illegal except when they say it can be done.
• They want to impose strict environmental regulations on all private property.
• They want to wipe out as many Christian holidays as possible.
• They want to strip all quotations or mentions of the Bible from public life.
• They want to impugn the founding fathers as sexists, bigots and racists.
• They want salary caps on all workers in the management sector.
• They want guaranteed wages, set at arbitrary rates, for all blue-collar workers.
• They want to reward able-bodied non-workers with all the amenities of life.
• They want to filter all speech through politically correct standards dictated by liberals.
• They want to deny due process to any male accused of a sexual offense.
• They want everyone to wear seat belts and have airbags installed even if it kills them.
• They want to turn the military into a gigantic social experiment.
• They want the U. S. Constitution to be continually adapted to modern liberal ideals.
• They want to make it impossible for us to take risks or hurt ourselves.
• They want to prevent us from wearing fur or animal skins.
• They want to stop all drilling for oil.
• They want to stop all mining for coal.
• They want to ban cell phones so no one can get brain cancer.
• They want to prohibit any more exploration for minerals underground.
• They want to eliminate the use of any pesticides, herbicides or agricultural chemicals.
• They want to guarantee that no more species will become extinct, regardless of human cost.
• They want to stop all bad thoughts through hate-crimes legislation.
• They want to ban toy guns, plastic knives and menacing looks.
• They want to punish any six-year old from kissing a classmate on the cheek during recess.
• They want to redistribute the wealth among the citizenry from haves to have-nots.
• They want to know everything about Americans through invasive census schemes.
• They want to regulate the amount of water we use through limited-capacity toilets.
• They want to know who belongs to a church that federal agencies think may be a threat.
• They want to spy on us through cameras and bugging devices in restrooms or intersections.
• They want to control trash disposal by forcing us to recycle.
• They want us to fund their propaganda campaigns like NPR and NEA through our taxes.
• They want taxpayers to fund public education they don’t use or agree with.
• They want to deny vouchers to taxpayers to pay for education that they do use and agree with.

This only marks the beginning. Industry by industry, neighborhood by neighborhood, liberals boast innumerable ideas for change. All these curtailments on individual freedoms are either already on the books as law or in the hopper for future legislation. In their quest for a perfect existence, the liberal establishment has succeeded far beyond even their own wildest dreams. They are supremely confident that they can continue on toward their goals. If none of this bothers you, it’s only because they haven’t come down your street—-yet. Keep on ignoring their progress, and laugh off the protests of others who’ve had their freedoms stolen, and they will get to you, eventually. We’d like to help you when that happens, but we’ll probably be dead, broke or in jail.

Based upon the liberal agenda, imagine a world where they actually get what they’ve always wanted. Will they all die from glee or from depression when they understand that they can’t have more? No. They will die from the consequences of their own policy enactments. Let’s follow it out to the logical conclusion.

When liberals wake up in their fantasy world, surrealism surrounds and suffocates them. It is a cold, dark world because there are no power plants to generate electricity for heat and light. They are hungry, but there is nothing legal to eat. At least, they think, they don’t have to worry about feeding forty or fifty extra million people because abortion took care of that. But, hunger pains persist so they’ve got to find breakfast. The meager non-radiated, no-preservatives-added food they manage to find is spoiled or diseased. They can’t drive to the state grocery store because cars can’t run without nasty internal combustion engines or dirty gasoline to burn in them. They start out walking to the nearest store but without leather shoes or petroleum-based, synthetic soles, their feet quickly get sore. When they finally arrive at the commercial section of town, most of the supermarkets are be defunct because zero profit margins forced them to go belly-up. The only open store has run out of permissible food like tofu and seaweed.

Liberals try to decide what to do next, but packs of protected wolves that roam the streets don’t allow too much time for anyone think. When they hear the howls, they run to climb trees, which, thanks to them, are in great abundance. As they scamper up the trees, they do have some fear that they will be arrested for tree-harassment. But they have no alternative. They perch high up on branches, looking down with sympathy and fascination into the cold, gray eyes, the frothy snarls and the marvelous fangs that liberals saved from the evil hunters. Suddenly, some bears, whose population has also burgeoned, come charging into the area. The wolves scatter, bringing momentary relief to the liberals’ mind. Unfortunately, bears climb trees too.

Now what? Their minds begin to churn. It’s a good thing they banned all guns or they might, in this weak moment, be tempted to commit animalicide, now judged to be a worse crime than homicide, cruelly blowing the bears away with twelve-gauge shotguns. Forget the cops coming to their rescue because they are out on patrol, arresting rednecks or macho males who don’t wear seat belts. (Well, actually there are no cars to stop any more, but union contracts guarantee that troopers can still patrol abandoned highways.) Also, all the firefighters are out making sure that mandatory alarm systems, smoke detectors, sprinkler systems and fire extinguishers installed in buildings made with 100% fireproof materials in the first place are in good working order.

Then, a brilliant idea electrifies their minds. Call the criminals! They still have guns. But, wait. They know if the crooks come to rescue them, it will cost them their Rolex watches, Platinum credit cards, diamond rings and maybe even their off-shore bank accounts in Montana. But, desperation demands that they call them anyway. They then realize that they have a major problem. Cell phones had been banned some time ago. They are be comforted by the thought that they won’t have to suffer from brain cancer. What’s more, if they did incur cancer, they are glad that they don’t have to face the unpleasant prospect of long lines and waiting lists for government hospitals. In the end, they resign themselves to forced euthanasia.

Oh well, bears have to eat too.  Recycled organs, anyone?  Aren’t vultures magnificent creatures?

Let’s Change the Culture

Changing a culture borders on the impossible. People identify deeply and strongly ethnic, regional or national traits, and they usually resist any attempt to dislodge them from their culture with a visceral reaction. Imagine how Americans would react if, for example, we were made to drive on the left side of the street instead of the right. What if Canadians were told they had to say “owt” instead of “oot”; or if New Englanders were told they had to say “Cuba” instead of “Cuber”; or if southerners were forbidden to say “ya’ll”? None of us would stand for it.

Other issues, however, must be considered more seriously. For example, the Corinthian church clung stubbornly to their pagan roots of immorality and idol worship, despite the powerful experience of conversion through the name of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They did not have a Jewish heritage to bring great conviction upon them concerning these issues. Elsewhere, Jewish Christians could not easily break from the past traditions of their Judaist upbringing. In the epistle to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul addressed the conflict between their bondage to Jewish practices and the liberty through the cross. Although he eventually triumphed in his quest, it was not without great agony and upheaval within the church.

People may be persuaded to accept a superior view from a logical standpoint, but they will rebel emotionally against that very logic. They despise holding opposing views against their traditions. They don’t want to be branded as different by their peers, and they dislike getting pushed out of their “comfort zone” or the familiar ruts that seemed to have worked for them in the past. These decisions descend from the heart, not the mind.

Success in changing the culture can only be achieved with committed and patient efforts of leadership. First, the idea must be patently superior to the present practice. Second, it must be skillfully articulated with great force and resolve. Last, it must be supremely resistant to the huge backlog of inertia that it will certainly encounter.

The United Pentecostal Church , International operates within the parameters of its own culture. Some of our defining earmarks grow out of our historical commitment to Apostolic doctrine and Bible holiness. Other characteristics, however, have evolved in obscure ways that may be difficult to understand. From time to time, we get shocked or shamed into a necessary look at our culture. We should come away from such revelations with a new resolve to change paradigms and behavior patterns that impede our mission and vision. Here is a starter list of areas that desperately need to be changed in our culture of faith.

Children. We must find better ways to impart Apostolic values to our children. The gush of evil influence from the world will not be met with a trickle or token from our teaching resources. Our renewed efforts must involve whole families, Sunday school programs, mentoring, planned activities and other efforts whose primary goal is to instill Apostolic values.

Missions. Missions must not continue to be something someone else does. It has to be what we do personally. The youth of some organizations spend two entire years of their lives in missions work. Others push their adherents to witness and sell literature with a zealot’s intensity. Whatever we do, we must imbue our emphasis on missions with sustained commitment and a unflagging campaign to keep it in front of us.

Vision. The primary process of the church is growth, both in quality and quantity. Jesus said, “I will build my church.” Building implies expansion, outreach, positive change and investment. We cannot marginalize our vision for growth into a whining or wishes. It must become a basic tenet of our faith and implemented with driving conviction.

Sacrifice. The church in the wilderness did not offer sacrifice to God on a whim. They planned and prepared sacrifices on a regular basis, because that’s what God required. Today, our culture of emotional, high-pressure kind of giving puts God under the thumb of our feelings and carnal calculations. Think of the power the church would generate with across-the-board, planned sacrificial offerings.

Discipleship. Too many in the Apostolic ranks think of discipleship as a to-do list. Instead of an attitude of Christ-likeness, it has become a superficial template that measures only observable traits. We need a paradigm shift so that our focus centers on the emulation of Christ.

Change your culture. Choose some area of your life or church that has stagnated into uselessness. Throw all your weight behind making the kind of change that restructures lives. When you affect the way you and others think, you will break into a brand, new world.

Does the Language I Speak Influence the Way I Think?

by Betty Birner

Is it true that the language I speak shapes my thoughts?

People have been asking this question for hundreds of years. Linguists have been paying special attention to it since the 1940's, when a linguist named Benjamin Lee Whorf studied Hopi, a Native American language spoken in northeastern Arizona. Based on his studies, Whorf claimed that speakers of Hopi and speakers of English see the world differently because of differences in their language.

What we have learned is that the answer to this question is complicated. To some extent, it's a chicken-and-egg question: Are you unable to think about things you don't have words for, or do you lack words for them because you don't think about them? Part of the problem is that there is more involved than just language and thought; there is also culture. Your culture—the traditions, lifestyle, habits, and so on that you pick up from the people you live and interact with—shapes the way you think, and also shapes the way you talk.

There's a language called Guugu Yimithirr (spoken in North Queensland, Australia) that doesn't have words like left and right or front and back. Its speakers always describe locations and directions using the Guugu Yimithirr words for north, south, east, and west. So, they would never say that a boy is standing in front of a house; instead, they'd say he is standing (for example) east of the house. They would also, no doubt, think of the boy as standing east of the house, while a speaker of English would think of him as standing in front of the house. Has our language affected our way of thinking? Or has a difference in cultural habits affected both our thoughts and our language? Most likely, the culture, the thought habits, and the language have all grown up together.

The problem isn't restricted to individual words, either. In English, the form of the verb in a sentence tells whether it describes a past or present event (Mary walks vs. Mary walked). Hopi doesn't require that; instead, the forms of its verbs tell how the speaker came to know the information, so you would use different forms for first-hand knowledge (like I'm hungry) and generally known information (like the sky is blue). Of course, English speakers may choose to include such information (as in, I hear Mary passed the test), but it's not required. Whorf believed that because of this difference, Hopi speakers and English speakers think about events differently, with Hopi speakers focusing more on the source of the information and English speakers focusing more on the time of the event.

Objects are treated differently by the syntax of different languages as well. In English, some nouns (like bean) are 'countable' and can be made plural (beans), while others are 'mass' and can't be made plural (you can have two cups of rice but not two rices). Other languages, like Japanese, don't make this distinction; instead, classifiers like cup of are used for all nouns. Researchers are studying whether this property of the language makes English speakers more aware of the distinction between substances and individual objects.

Here's one more example. Whorf said that because English treats time as being broken up into chunks that can be counted—three days, four minutes, half an hour—English speakers tend to treat time as a group of objects—seconds, minutes, hours—instead of as a smooth unbroken stream. This, he said, makes us think that time is 'stuff' that can be saved, wasted, or lost. The Hopi, he said, don't talk about time in those terms, and so they think about it differently; for them it is a continuous cycle. But this doesn't necessarily mean that our language has forced a certain view of time on us; it could also be that our view of time is reflected in our language, or that the way we deal with time in our culture is reflected in both our language and our thoughts. It seems likely that language, thought, and culture form three strands of a braid, with each one affecting the others.

But people think in language, right?

Much of the time, yes. But not always. You can easily conjure up mental images and sensations that would be hard to describe in words. You can think about the sound of a symphony, the shape of a pear, or the smell of garlic bread. None of these thoughts require language.

So it's possible to think about something even if I don't have a word for it?

Yes. Take colors, for example. There are an infinite number of different colors, and they don't all have their own names. If you have a can of red paint and slowly add blue to it, drop by drop, it will very slowly change to a reddish purple, then purple, then bluish purple. Each drop will change the color very slightly, but there is no one moment when it will stop being red and become purple. The color spectrum is continuous. Our language, however, isn't continuous. Our language makes us break the color spectrum up into 'red', 'purple', and so on.

The Dani of New Guinea have only two basic color terms in their language, one for 'dark' colors (including blue and green) and one for 'light' colors (including yellow and red). Their language breaks up the color spectrum differently from ours. But that doesn't mean they can't see the difference between yellow and red; studies have shown that they can see different colors just as English speakers can.

In Russian, there are two different words for light blue and dark blue. Does this mean that Russian speakers think of these as 'different' colors, while having one word (blue) causes English speakers to think of them as the same? Maybe. Do you think of red and pink as different colors? If so, you may be under the influence of your language; after all, pink is really just light red.

So our language doesn't force us to see only what it gives us words for, but it can affect how we put things into groups. One of the jobs of a child learning language is to figure out which things are called by the same word. After learning that the family's St. Bernard is a dog, the child may see a cow and say dog, thinking that the two things count as the same. Or the child may not realize that the neighbor's chihuahua also counts as a dog. The child has to learn what range of objects is covered by the word dog. We learn to group things that are similar and give them the same label, but what counts as being similar enough to fall under a single label may vary from language to language.

In other words, the influence of language isn't so much on what we can think about, or even what we do think about, but rather on how we break up reality into categories and label them. And in this, our language and our thoughts are probably both greatly influenced by our culture.

But what about all those Eskimo words for snow?

You may have heard it said that Eskimos have dozens (or even hundreds!) of words for snow. People often use this claim to show that the way we view the world and the way we talk about it are closely related. But it's simply not true that Eskimos have an extraordinary number of words for snow. First of all, there isn't just one Eskimo language; the people we refer to as 'Eskimos' speak a variety of languages in the Inuit and Yupik language families. And even if we pick a single dialect of a single language, we won't find much evidence that it has more words for snow than English does. For one thing, there's the question of what counts as a word: In English, we can combine words to get compound forms like snowball and snowflake, and we can add what are called 'inflectional' endings to get snowed and snowing. The Eskimo languages have far more word-forming processes than English does, so a single 'root' word (like snow) could be the basis for hundreds of related words. It hardly seems fair to count each one of these separately. If you only count the roots, you'll find that these languages aren't that different from English. After all, English has lots of words for snow; we've got snow, sleet, slush, frost, blizzard, avalanche, drift, powder, and flurry, and if you're an avid skier, you probably know even more.

So learning a different language won't change the way I think?

Not really, but if the new language is very different from your own, it may give you some insight into another culture and another way of life.

For further information

Nunberg, Geoffrey. 1996. "Snowblind." Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 14: p. 205-213.

Pullum, Geoffrey. 1991. The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax and Other Irreverent Essays on the Study of Language. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

The Language of Prayer (Part One)

Language Rules

Prayer is the language of heaven. From the very moment we close our eyes and breathe “Heavenly Father”, “Dear Jesus,” or “Almighty God,” we trigger an interaction with God on a level that transcends human understanding. Yet, although we know what prayer is, we often fail miserably in actually knowing how to do it. Is it even possible for us to know the who, when, where, why and how of prayer? We must try. Anyone who wants to pray effectively needs answers to these basic questions. Without this fundamental knowledge, we are like the owner of a fine car who doesn’t know how to operate it or where to go. Likewise, dictionary definitions of prayer fall short of expressing everything we need to understand about it.

As a language, prayer is subject to the rules of language. We may determine this by breaking prayer down into the parts of speech. This enables us to cast prayer in precise Biblical usage and allows us to see major distinctions in kinds and styles of prayer, some apparent and some subtle. For example, we find that specific prayers govern certain outcomes, that there are well defined ways to pray for narrowly defined purposes, and that Biblical prayers observe special do’s and don’ts. The purpose for this study is not necessarily scholarly analysis, but to give a practical format to those who deeply yearn to enrich their prayer lives. To glean the most from this study, you must put these insights into real use. You will enter into a dimension of power in prayer that you never knew existed.

Prayer Nouns

Whatever exists can be named, and that name is a noun. By rote, most of us can still say “a noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea.” Nouns help us avoid calling everything a “whatchamacallit” or “thingamajig.” In order to communicate meaningfully, we have to be much more precise in our language. Nouns help us to define and refine our speech until we know exactly what we are talking about. We even include words in our vocabulary that refer to the same general things, but reveal subtle differences. For example, we can call a book a volume, a tome, a work, or if it is unfinished, a manuscript. A special book may be a text, a biography, a novel, a log or a dictionary.

Prayer, as a part of speech, is a noun. If we just call it “prayer”, however, we lose important distinctions that add to our understanding of prayer. Using precise prayer nouns from the scripture helps us to see these differences and we can focus on specific purposes for our prayers. Let’s look at the most common of these nouns.

Prayer as Supplication

Supplication often appears in scripture as a prayer noun, especially in the Old Testament. It means humble entreaty, with greater emphasis on humble. Daniel gives us an excellent context for this word. “O my God, incline thine ear, and hear…for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.” Daniel 9:18. Supplicants lay aside all arrogance and pride. We come before God’s throne intensely aware of our humanness and lowly state of being and make our supplications known to him. This word reflects the attitude with which one prays more than the content of his or her prayer. A demanding attitude never prevails with God.

We should dedicate the beginning moments of any prayer to supplication. “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men.” (1 Timothy 2:1). This establishes our position before God. We may then go on to other forms of prayer, but not before we expressly humble ourselves in his presence.

Prayer as Petition

Many prayers burst forth spontaneously as needs and circumstances pop into our lives. Often, they are based upon sudden impulse---or even panic. To petition God, however, is to present a formal request to him. In the legal profession, attorneys petition the court by making a serious, deliberate and well-considered case to the judge. In prayer, there are times when we need to go solemnly before the throne of grace, not impulsively or in haste, but with premeditation. We must adopt the Ezra mode of praying. “And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God. And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.” Ezra 9:5-6. Other prophets, like Nehemiah, Daniel, Isaiah and Jeremiah also prayed with petition prayers. It is not praying on a whim, but it ascends up from the depths of the soul, fashioned in the vortex of deep and abiding convictions.

A petitioning prayer requires preparation. First, prepare your own heart. Then, consider the true legitimacy of the need. Verify its scriptural foundations, look at the circumstances that call for it and weigh out its consequences. When you put your petition through these stringent prerequisites, you can then pray with authority and determination. Your faith becomes a powerful force and you will persevere because you are invested in your prayers. John wrote, “And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” John 5:15

Prayer as Intercession

An intercessor acts on another’s behalf or asks in favor of another. Intercession requires empathy, compassion and a willingness to concern oneself with another person’s spiritual welfare. Again, our reference is 1Timothy 2:1, “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men.” The intercessor assimilates the needs of others into his own being as he cries out in their stead. He prays their prayers for them because they cannot or will not pray for themselves. The true intercessor does not gauge the worthiness of those for whom he intercedes. He does not act out of anticipated pay back. His motive is selfless, his understanding is pure and his cause is rooted in love.

Jesus Christ was the greatest intercessor the world has ever known. It can be said that intercession embodied the whole purpose of his earthly mission. He summarized this mission in his High-priestly prayer of John 17:9, “I pray for them.” For them! Not for himself, but for them! In a twist of high irony, the one who deserved all glory stripped himself of that very glory on our behalf---so that he would become exceedingly glorified. “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God…he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:6-8.

The work of the church goes beyond simple evangelism. We are also called to intercessory prayer because it works in tandem with the preaching of the gospel. Intercession calls for a depth of care that the world has no capacity to give to people. Every saint of God must hear the cry of the lost and then carry that cry to the throne of grace. Meditate on the following verse and take it into your prayer closet. “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:18-20.

Prayer as Communion

The word communion does not appear in direct association with prayer, even though it comes from the same root from which we derive communication. We can trace its meaning in practice back to prayer as we examine the scriptures. Technically, communion refers to participation and sharing. The Bible uses the word in reference to receiving the Lord’s Supper. “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” 1 Corinthians 10:16. But, what is eating and drinking if not ingesting into oneself something that is outside of himself? Through communion, we ingest into our hearts the very presence of God.

From this thought of communion, we go to Revelation 3:20. “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Sup means to drink in or swallow up. When you allow this picture to fully form in your mind, you see a person and Christ, in the same room by themselves, communing with each other. This is a perfect description of prayer.

Prayer can and should be more than the purposeful exchange of words and ideas between man and God. Prayer is a divine, awe-inspiring and life-changing experience that transcends words. It is something to be felt as well and heard and spoken. I believe Adam had this with God before the fall. “And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” Genesis 3:8. Adam enjoyed a rich relationship with Jehovah as they walked together in paradise. If Jesus Christ restored that which was lost in Adam, and according to Romans that’s exactly what happened, then we can recreate the relationship that sin suspended in Eden in our closet of prayer. Another beautiful example of communion presents itself in the concept of marriage, as expounded in Ephesians.

How can you turn your prayer time into communion with God? It may be simple, but it’s not easy. It takes slowing down and savoring the moment. Anyone who has ever visited an exotic island wants time to stand still in order to soak up the atmosphere. It’s like basking in the warm sunlight, breathing in the fragrant air after the rain. For those who love the wintertime, it’s like letting the snowflakes fall softly and melting on your face. It means attuning your sensitivities to the heart and desire of God. Prayer as communion can only happen by having a full consciousness of his presence. God must become our chief joy and love. “If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.” Psalms 137:6.

Prayer as Worship

John 4:23-24 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Worship is extravagant admiration. The human spirit seeks out icons, heroes and celebrities to fawn over and adore. It is our nature. All the components of prayer work together to become a total act of worship---not to a worldly icon---but to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. In order to enhance this aspect of prayer, we need to rehearse all the glorious names and titles of God and speak them out to him in prayer. We need to exult in him as Creator, Redeemer, Altogether Lovely, Rose of Sharon, Lily of the Valley, Bright and Morning Star…on and on it goes. And, when you exhaust the scriptural designations of God, you can compose your own. Lose yourself in the worship experience that prayer presents.

Worship demands ego-demotion. God must be the focus of your love and affection. This requires you to deviate from your personal agenda of wants and needs, and enter into the throne room of the presence of God. This is the place where you forget yourself and truly stand in awe of the One who has no equal in the universe. Psalm 95:6-7 says, “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.”

Prayer as Praise

Hebrews 13:15 “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”

Praise means to attribute or express glory to a deserving individual. It can be either general or specific. Praise seeks out an aspect of character, a notable display of talent, a memorable deed or a significant word that has been spoken and makes a huge deal about it. Praise acknowledges excellence, concedes superiority and demonstrates credible appreciation for who someone is or what they’ve done.

1 Chronicles 16:4 illustrates the importance of praise. “And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel.” The only job of certain priests in the Old Testament was to offer up praise to God.

Today, in order to praise God in prayer, we must find delight in every aspect of God and tell him about it. Generally, praise him for his excellent greatness, praise him for his tender mercy; specifically, praise him for the way he answered your prayer last week, or for baptizing you with the Holy Spirit. Once you get started, you’ll find it nearly impossible to stop praising him for the multitude of things he has done for you. Make praise a vital part of your prayer.

Prayer as Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a primary component of prayer. Colossians 4:2 says “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.” In Psalm 100:4 we read, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

Thanksgiving means to show sincere gratitude for an act of kindness or generosity. This display of thankfulness resonates so deeply within our conscience that North American governments have set aside a special day on the yearly calendar devoted to this very purpose. Without thanksgiving, we become exploiters, users, selfish takers and manipulators. We tag thankless people as obnoxious and rude.

We must not be spoiled brats in God’s presence, presuming upon his goodness and demanding his generosity. Yes, we are his children, and we have been graciously received into the family of God, but we still should not think of ourselves as having any entitlements with God. We have no legal, moral or actual authority over God which makes him subservient to us. Our relationship with him is predicated solely upon his goodness to us.

Make your prayers rich with thanksgiving. Show great appreciation for the fact that he even notices you, let alone the fact that he died to save you. As you offer up thanks to God, you will situate yourself in a place of great spiritual advantage. Psalm 69:30-31 says, “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. 31 This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.”

These are the nouns of prayer: supplication, petition, intercession, communion, worship, praise and thanksgiving. As you understand these aspects of prayer, you will pray with more purpose and you will see greater results than ever before. You have only just begun to experience everything God wants your prayer to be.