Communion With God

This is a vitally important topic for all Christians today. We all talk about "The fellowship of the Holy Spirit" but what does it mean?

Many have espoused their own versions on this. Some are good, most are not so good, but I would like to point you to the best. 

No, no, no, not me. (Shrugs) I am talking about the man of God who practically wrote the book on hearing from God. Over 50 books actually.

Over 20 years ago, in the last week of June 1992, I met this extraordinary man and it helped me to solidify many thoughts and concepts in God. We were having lunch in a restaurant when he asked the people there some challenging questions and we became involved in a passionate discussion over different things from new age heresies to the prophetic of God. At the end of that luncheon I walked out with a publishing contract written on a random sheet of paper that one of the attendees had in their bag.

Needless to say. I am not famous. I never completed that book. It is probably for the best.

But now we get back on topic. There is only one place I refer people to where I know that not only will they be encouraged to be totally free to develop their ability to hear spiritually and to then use a balanced and rigorous knowledge and understanding of the word of God to work out what God is saying through it all.

I have waited this long in the post to mention his name as he has been slandered and misunderstood by many but I can assure you that he is for real and more to be trusted than many of the big names.

The man's name is Mark Virlker from Communion With God Ministries and can be found here:

http://www.cwgministries.org/

He also has a very useful and fascinating YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/CommunionWithGod


Mark Virkler pioneered the practice of "Journalling" within a Christian context. This is NOT the same as the occult practice of "Automatic writing" which is practiced by mediums and spiritualists and can get people into lots of scary trouble. 

Mark explains it best but for those who don't want to watch his stuff just now I will do a brief overview. He suggests that our moral and intellectual filters are so active that we find it difficult to receive or tune in to the voice of God and I know this is the case with those who are well versed in scripture but not so much with those who aren't. He teaches that we shouldn't worry about it at the time of inspiration and just write down what comes to mind as it is and then sort it out within the context of the word of God later. This frees up the process of receiving and expressing the message God has for you because you don't worry about it or hold on to it too tight but let it flow and sort it out later.

It must be said that those who neglect the most important aspects of his method, as in the going over what was written and evaluating it in the light of Holy Scripture, are nutbags and not his responsibility.

Just because some people take part of his teaching and ignore the whole process does not invalidate his ministry. The man (and his wife Patti) is an inspiration and has been ground-breaking and significant in his contribution to the body of Christ.

My YouTube Channel

Man...

I've posted so much stuff tonight that I need to put a link to my YouTube Channel because, after all, that's the main reason I have a blog...

Check it out here:

https://www.youtube.com/user/GarthClarkson


Cheers.

Pastor Garth Clarkson

PS. If you have ideas for a video or questions you would like addressed then feel free to leave a comment.

Why we do what looks to be religious stuff when we are saved by grace?

There are many people who argue that we are set free from every religious practice and ritual because we are set free by the cross. I have been called legalistic and religious by some people because I insist that it is good practice to Tithe, Fast and Pray, Regularly Worship and many other practices that some insist belong to old testament Judaism and not to Christian service.

Paul said that whoever you submit yourself to as a servant to obey is your master (well, he said that you are his servant). As Christians we should have only one master, God the father. We should have no other thing telling us how to spend our money or our time or what gets our time and energy. In theory. I know that there are many practical things that are needed for day to day life but these are choices. Once we allow something to dictate to us then we become its slave.

That is why smoking or any other kind of addiction is bad. It takes resources from us for no good purpose and flushes it away while getting us more and more hooked up with what it wants and not what God wants (or what we want for that matter). It becomes an idol, something that becomes more important than God in our lives.

That is why we tithe. When we tithe we honour God with our finances and it takes the power of the flesh out of our spending. On the positive side there are so many promises in the word of God about Him blessing your finances when you give that you would be mad not to so long as you see it the right way and not as a religious thing but as part of your relationship with God.

That is why we fast and pray. We don't want desires for different foods, etc, to rule over us. We need to control the flesh. Actually we are told to crucify the flesh. Jesus said that we would not fast while the Bridegroom was with us but that we would fast when He was gone. It is NOT an old testament thing. It is a powerful tool to help us have victory and power in our lives.

Do not be deceived by people who would try to tell you that the liberty that Christ has won us through the cross is a license to do what we want. It is the opposite. In old testament prophecy it says that He will write His law on our hearts, that we will no longer have hearts of stone but hearts of flesh and that we will do by nature the things that please Him. It is not that the things that please Him have changed. It is that the state of our hearts should have changed when we asked Him in to our lives and that we now have a different nature that allows us to think and desire along the lines of what God thinks and desires rather than according to the fallen human nature.

What He did on the cross is this. He destroyed the power of the sinful human nature in our lives if we allow it to. Both in our lives as individuals and corporately as the body of Christ.

This is not being religious, it is being responsible, it is being a good steward of the grace that God has given us.

Pastor Garth Clarkson

Thursday, 9th January 2014

Posted by Garth Clarkson at 02:09

TUESDAY, 29 APRIL 2014

Loving or being loved?

God is love.

Many Christians spend most of their waking time searching for the love of God. They want to feel loved and hang in God's presence because "nothing I would rather do", etc.

The only problem there is that Jesus told us to show love, to do things that express the love of God to other people. He taught us to love.

Seeking love is self-seeking and it is selfish. It is true that all human beings need to be loved but the attempt to fill that gaping hole in our hearts is the cause of every evil thing on this planet. It has been preached by many (including me) that it is a God-shaped hole and that we fill it with Him to become complete. Now that is true but once that has happened we need to take that love out to others. When we know Him we no longer should be seeking to be loved but in knowing we are loved by the creator we take Him out to them. That is the love of God. It is not "carpet hugging" or deep worship, it is feeding the hungry and visiting the widow.

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE worship and it refreshes me and equips me with a profound sense of the presence of God that helps me to conquer my fears and the other opposition so that I can go out there and reach people for Him. That said, worship is NOT the reason we are here, that is not what is meant by bringing God glory. Singing His praises is good, but there is no higher declaration of His goodness than to buy a homeless person a meal in His name or to get them shoes. Try it and see. The praise God gets from one of these precious ones is more intense and genuine than anything we can muster up no matter how hyped we get on a Sunday.

Garth.

9/1/2014

TUESDAY, 29 APRIL 2014

Posted by Garth Clarkson at 02:02

Visitation of God

Once again the following is just an idea I jotted down. I haven't fully developed the scriptural or scholarly support. It is just notes but I still want to get the idea out there...

5th November 2013

Pastor Garth Clarkson

When we boil it all down, revivals and moves of God are times when God visits His people. Jesus and the prophets spoke extensively about "the visitation of God".

Elijah's return was prophesied to prepare the way of the messiah. Later Jesus tells us that it was talking about John the Baptist. Anyway, it speaks of preparing for the visitation of God. Cut down the mountains, fill the valleys and make a highway for Him to travel. In other words, Repent. Jesus said narrow is the gate and straight is the road that leads to eternal life and few there are that find it.

Every outpouring of God's grace publicly en-masse has been preceded by extraordinary prayer and a heart of repentance in the people of God. (Sometimes it has even involved martyrdom as a foundation) Even if it was as few as twenty people or in some cases just one or two. The common factor is dedication and unity. Sacrificial dedication.

John the Baptist's message was "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"

Jesus' message was "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is HERE"

Peter's message, Stephen's message and Paul's message was "Repent for you killed the King and He is risen. The kingdom of heaven is here to stay"

Today we have a situation in the contemporary church where it appears that "repent" is a dirty word. Problem is, without repentance there is no becoming a part of the kingdom because that is how you enter - by the blood of the Lamb and that blood is NOT AVAILABLE without repentance.

• Need to expand on the visitation side from scripture
• Need to expand on the visitation side from Church history

What happens when God visits His people is dependent on their attitudes and what they've been up to. Visit is used for the day when God's judgement is executed and it is also used when they are restored from that position of judgement. Job said that it was God's visitation on him that brought the blessing.

When God visits it is a good idea to make sure that your accounts are in order. It is crazy to pray for revival without entering a state of deep repentance or otherwise you are one of the first casualties when He comes. Deal with it now or He will and it will be very public. God will not allow His anointing to be a covering for sin or a validation of bad character. If we want that double portion then we need to do the "Hebrews 1" thing, hate lawlessness and love righteousness.

Posted by Garth Clarkson at 01:57

TUESDAY, 29 APRIL 2014

Another Jesus?

It seems to be popular within a certain section of the contemporary body of Christ to talk of a different Jesus. They seem to think that their Jesus is so different to the one who cried out "repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" and "go and sin no more". This Jesus is a wishy washy, lovey dovey, nice guy who has no principles or intense feelings and everyone and everything is accepted. They believe that Jesus died for everyone so then everyone is saved but just doesn't know it yet and so there is no need to repent. They dishonour Christ's death on the Cross. Jesus didn't pay for our sins on the cross in order to give us all a free ride but He did it to destroy the sin principle in our hearts so that we would no longer be slaves to it but would be free to worship God in spirit and truth. Sin is still sin. It still kills. It still destroys lives. It still exists and it is still evil.

An example is where Joel Osteen recently when he said that the word of God needs to be updated and many of the epistles need to be replaced with modern alternatives and believes that the apostles Peter, James, John and Paul missed it in many ways. Shane Willard said something similar but wasn't quite as bold as to suggest we replace it but that we should interpret it based on our current society's needs. What deception.

This is not the Jesus I read of in the Bible. They have hijacked the church and persecute, ridicule and marginalise bible-believers. All in a nice way though - just a comment here and a sad smile of understanding there, not allowing them to speak but letting them do all the work in the church so long as they have no voice. Saying things about us like "legalistic" and "old school" and praying that we "get it".

I am sorry if this is offensive to you but there is no way on this earth that someone who is well versed and grounded in the word of God is going to "get it", EVER. "It" is heresy.

It is a caricature of God. It is mocking him. You might think it is a bit rough what I say but what is a caricature? It is where you draw a picture of someone and emphasise some of their more noticeable or distinguishing features and de-emphasise all the others, leading to a recognisable but grotesque image of the person that is suitable for satire or ridicule. That is what they are doing. They are amplifying some aspects of Jesus and diminishing others that they find less attractive and are presenting this to the world. It is rubbish. We are to magnify Him, not parts of Him. He is not only the suffering servant but He is also the King of Glory, a mighty warrior who is coming back to execute judgment on all the ungodly who have rejected Him. Accepting a caricature and not the whole Jesus in balance is a form of rejection. Do you know the cartoon or the person? As an example, I read the political funnies but the way Tony Abbott is portrayed really annoys me. Tony is a warm, genuine person in real life. I know. I have met him and I can usually see through the glamour of campaigning. There is so much more to the man than a set of "budgie smugglers" and big ears and nose. Back to the issue.

It is time we get rid of the caricature and try to see the real Jesus (I don't know what these others are talking about with the "authentic Jesus" terminology. It just sounds like when people call COD an authentic shooter. I don't like it.)

Posted by Garth Clarkson at 01:54

TUESDAY, 29 APRIL 2014

Sectarianism

(1/11/2013):

I know there is a reason for it but for too long the body of Christ has been fragmented. The only time we see Christians getting together is either for city wide crusades, etc., or under "Ecumenical" programmes. This is a good thing but it is time we move beyond unity based on the lowest common denominator. We need a new "Nicene Council" that can lay the articles of the faith out clearly to stop much of the madness. I am not saying that it is a bad thing having lots of churches. It is good. What is not good is these experientially-based people preaching a Jesus they created in their heads without much respect to what the Bible says He is and did and said.

We need to get to a place of "unity of the spirit in the bond of peace" and "come to unity of the faith". Jesus prayed "Father, make them one as You and I are one". We need to have some kind of unity based on a commonality of belief and power in God that does not limit Him to a particular church or denomination but is built upon bible truths. I am not talking about organisational unity. That is not going to happen but if it did then Lord help us because that cannot be healthy. We are a family, not a business. We are a body with many parts. We need to be able to keep our individual distinctiveness but interact with each other in a positive way that enables us to move together as one when necessary.

Posted by Garth Clarkson at 01:47

TUESDAY, 29 APRIL 2014

A Fresh Move Of God

A Fresh Move Of God

The following post is not an idea as such but is a basic Pastors and Leaders training session I prepared:

25th October 2013

Pastor Garth Clarkson

I keep saying that we are not going to have a revival but we are carrying a fresh move of God. This is a very bold statement. Revivals are awesome but they can be instigated by people in authority. Many people get saved, etc.

The difference with a move of God is that it is usually accompanied by the following:

1. A double-portion anointing.
2. A paradigm shift in keeping with a fresh restoration of lost truth. (Jesus said that He would return after the restoration of all things).
3. Sovereign moves of the Holy Spirit that spill out past the boundaries of the building and the church into the broader body of Christ and into the wider community.

So let's look at these more closely:

1. There is no doubt that we have the double-portion anointing, both in terms of intensity and in terms of range of areas that it affects. We carry the "Jesus" anointing: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor..." etc.
2. There is a paradigm shift in how we do things and how we look at things and how we think. God is restoring Apostolic Authority to the church. He is making adjustments to how the contemporary church operates and relates to Him and others. Some of these adjustments are major in impact but can be brought about by minor attitude shifts. Others do not seem like a big deal and there will be little to observe from the outside that anything is different but it will be produced by a greatly different attitude and world-view. There are many issues that will need to be dealt with, just like Martin Luther and his 95 theses.
3. God is already moving sovereignly to see this move birthed at this time. He is bringing together all the people and resources we need to kick this off with little effort on our part. He is bringing them to us. He is getting all sorts of people involved and contributing to it from believers to atheists and agnostics who can't understand why they are doing it. They just know that it is the right thing to say or to do. Where ever I go revival is threatening to break out and I am having to be very careful with what I do so that it breaks out where, when and with those that God wants it to. This is not being exclusive. This is going to sweep the world but we want to make sure it has good foundations.

SOME OF THE ADJUSTMENTS

1. Reclaiming the contemporary church from the world.

 Rom 12:2 (MKJV) "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind"

 Jas 3:15 (MKJV) "This is not the wisdom coming down from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish"

 2Ti 3:16 (KJV) "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness"

The contemporary church in its quest to be relevant to our current egalitarian, anarchistic, self-absorbed, disrespectful, irreverent, rebellious, narcissistic, isolationist, materialistic (amongst other things) society has become a subset of that same society. The contemporary church has become a consumer oriented business, a self-serving, democratic organisation of groups providing contact points for self-oriented, experientially based worship and revenue raising. Supply and demand. The contemporary church has been swallowed up in worldliness and now preaches secular psychology and philosophy wrapped up in religious terms instead of the word of God.

It is our mission to return to Christ-centred, word-of-God-based worship in the Spirit of God rather than the spirit of the world. We are to make these adjustments without losing relevance to those we are trying to reach.

2. One-Size-Fits-All Gospel

 Heb 6:1 "Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection..."

Part of the problem we encounter when attempting to bring the body of Christ into a semblance of "the unity of the faith" is that they all focus on doctrines and teaching that supports their particular focus and often leave the rest to the personal study of the motivated individual. For example, an evangelical church will present the milk of the word as being the whole thing and will virtually ignore or invalidate all sections of the word of God that are difficult to understand and that are off-putting to those who don't know God intimately. Every meeting is geared towards non-believers and getting them saved and so they grow shallow and do not address the things that will take them into the word of God. They begin to compromise and eventually become very worldly. E.g. Joel Osteen.

Another example is where there is an over emphasis on teaching without doing. No matter how much you know, if you are not putting it into practice then it becomes theoretical and irrelevant and then to explain the gap between knowledge and experience a culture of excuses begins to grow, e.g. Calvinism, Reformed Theology (where we don't need the gifts of the Holy Spirit any more because we have science, knowledge and medicine now), Nicolaitanism (greasy grace, turning liberty into licence).

Yet another is where Word of Faith got so caught up in "naming and claiming" materialistic things that they forgot to clothe the naked and to feed the hungry.

Another is the "relationship with Jesus" crowd who don't need the word of God because Jesus speaks to them. He understands them and besides, it says "you have need of no one to teach you because you have an anointing from the Holy One and know all things".

THE ADJUSTMENT

We need to be able to evaluate where a particular person is at in their walk with God and to feed them the diet that is beneficial to helping them fit into their part of the body.

We need to distinguish:

1. Maturity - What stage of growth are they at?
2. Gifting - What are their natural and spiritual gifts?
3. Calling - What part are they meant to play in the body?

And we need to make sure that as each believer grows they are introduced to the harder concepts.

OR

We just get the fine print out there right from the start, up front and preach a mix of milk and meat all the time and hope we don't turn too many off...

Posted by Garth Clarkson at 01:44

TUESDAY, 29 APRIL 2014

The Jesus Anointing

5/10/2013

For several years now God has been highlighting this verse to me and telling me that this applies to me as well. It is a little confronting to see yourself like Jesus but it says that when He returns we will know Him because we will be like Him.

Most churches move in one or more of these basic areas but there are few that move in all six. The sixth is more an overarching principle that applies to all we do. This teaching probably forms the basis of our charter and mandate, that is this teaching coupled with the great commission. It is time to put rubber to the road in a way that we get traction and handling. The time of unity of the body of Christ based on lowest common denominator is over. It is time to build unity based on collaboration and fulfilling all the duties and functions He has ordained for His church and His kingdom. Judgement begins at the house of God. The Jew first, then the Greek. Jerusalem, Judea and the uttermost parts of the earth. We need to get this message into the body of Christ so that they will stop being so fragmented and ineffectual in their efforts. Then we can go outside. That is the plan.

Luke 4:18-19 NKJV: "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE HAS ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR; HE HAS SENT ME TO HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET AT LIBERTY THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED; (19) TO PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD."

I would like to break this down into the respective tasks this anointing is given for, but first I must reiterate my definition of anointing. The anointing is the power of God on a person or thing in order to achieve a particular task or function. If we are anointed to a task then the power to perform it is wrapped up in and supplied by that anointing. If we are called to it (and anointed) then we have the God-supplied ability to do it.

Now let's look at this verse and break it down. I also want to look at this in terms of past and present movements and to see where it is already being done and where it needs to be introduced. There is only one person of the Trinity called the Holy Spirit. Though in Revelation it speaks of the seven spirits of God and the seven candlesticks for the purposes of this study we must consider that although He manifests Himself in many ways we are dealing with Him and not an impersonal power source although He does allow us to minister His essence as if He was. He is amazing. What I am trying to say is that although there are different anointings it is the one Spirit and each of those anointings will still embody and express the person and character of God and as such there are many overlaps and similarities between them.

There are no hard and fast lines here. He was sent to be a comforter, power to be His witnesses, the down payment on our inheritance, counsellor and many more things but in this context it is clear that the purpose of the Anointing of the Messiah (Anointed One) is to bring wholeness until He returns and then the second part of this prophecy in Isaiah kicks in and He will punish and eliminate, with extreme prejudice, those who have rejected this first purpose.

We are anointed to:

1. PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR

Prosperity/Godly financial management - Funding the kingdom, not just personal blessing.

2. HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED

Spiritual healing/counselling/pastoral care - As we bring the power of the Spirit of God to bear on a person's life in conjunction with the word of God they will be encouraged to forgive and receive forgiveness and begin to understand the love of God and how different it is from the concepts of love we get in the world. As we use repentance to plug into God we avail ourselves of unlimited healing power.

3. TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES

Healing - re-establishing rightful Christian boundaries. Rejecting satan's limitations and the expectations that the world has to put us in a box. Adopting victorious living in Christ. We are set free to rule as kings and priests to our God.

4. RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND

Evangelism/teaching - This is twofold. Firstly we need to bring people out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. It is only when someone has been born again (and filled with the Holy Ghost) that they can recognise and comprehend the word of God. Secondly we need to break off the blindness that has settled on the body of Christ due to unbelief and bad teaching. "The god of this world has blinded the minds of those who don't believe".

5. SET AT LIBERTY THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED

Deliverance / Spiritual Warfare - "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty for the pulling down of strongholds...". Jesus went about preaching and healing all those who were oppressed of the devil.

6. TO PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD

Grace in a prophetic age - we are coming into a time of great grace but it has an end date. God will not always strive with man. Today, when you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as they did in the wilderness. The word did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in the hearts of those that heard it. The message of true grace, redemptive power, sanctification and mobilisation.

Posted by Garth Clarkson at 01:39
TUESDAY, 29 APRIL 2014

Get The Lamp Working - Trim Your Wicks

Yamba NSW 6th March 2013

Trim Your Wicks/Buy Extra Oil

Matthew 25:1-13 NKJV: "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  (2)  Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.  (3)  Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,  (4)  but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.  (5)  But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.  (6)  "And at midnight a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!'  (7)  Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.  (8)  And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'  (9)  But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.'  (10)  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.  (11)  "Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!'  (12)  But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'  (13)  "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."

What is meant by "trim your wicks"?

In the days when Jesus walked the earth they had oil lamps. We have all seen the lamp that Aladdin had rubbed to bring out the Genie. It was an elongated brass container that was filled with olive oil and at the pointy end there was a hole in the middle of a small, flared opening. A short piece of rope or cord (string?) was put through the hole and submerged in the oil with the other end sticking out of the hole a little bit. This bit of cord is called the wick. Now the oil soaks into the wick and is drawn up into the flared opening where it makes a little pool. That end of the wick is then lit and the oil in the pool burns and the flame gives off light. This continues until there is no more oil in the lamp. It is primarily the oil that burns but in the process the wick becomes charred and needs to be drawn up periodically or will burn away enough that it is no longer able to transfer the oil and the lamp stops working. Once it goes out it will be difficult to light again, even when more oil is put into the lamp. The charring of the wick stops the flow of oil into the bowl. To overcome this difficulty you need to "trim" the wick. That is a process where the charred bit of the wick is cut off so that there is only fresh cord. Then the lamp will light normally again.

Jesus told us the parable of the wise and foolish virgins waiting for the bridegroom to appear. They all had their lamps but they had waited so long that they were running out of oil. In order to go with the bridegroom, each one needed their own fully functioning lamp. The wise virgins had brought spare oil with them and when He came, they trimmed their wicks and went with Him. The foolish virgins did not have enough oil and asked for the wise ones to give/loan them some. The wise ones refused as then they would not have enough for themselves and told the foolish ones to go and BUY more oil for themselves. While the foolish ones were off doing that the bridegroom took the wise ones with Him and locked the door. When the foolish ones returned He wouldn't let them in, sending them away and telling them He didn't know them.

It is clear to me from this story that each of us needs to have his own light and to maintain it properly. This is something each of us needs to do for himself. If we give away our oil (anointing) then we will not have enough. I have seen many ministers riding of the power and anointing of others without BUYING their own. Getting the power of God happening in your life (filling the lamp) COSTS. If you don't pay the price you can't have it without stealing it. Those who steal it never really understand the cost and waste it on their own selfish ambitions. God will call them into account. But for now let's look at the cost and how we get if for ourselves.

The lamp

 - made from beaten brass or bronze.

This metal is tough and will not melt under the heat of the flame or shatter when dropped.

Brass represents law (and judgement) and is strong and inflexible.

The vessel must be fashioned in this way.

The oil

This is made by pressing the olives until all the juice is squeezed out. This juice is then purified. The process of purification involved beating the juice until the impurities make a froth on top. This froth is then removed and the process is repeated until all that is left is the oil. Impure oil will gunk up the wick and will not flow as easily as fine, well refined oil. Impure oil can also cause the lamp to splutter or even go out. As we allow praise to come out of us as we are crushed by life's pressures we have the start of the oil. As we endure the beating and whipping and allow God to remove the froth and impurities it is refined.

The wick

 - the cord

This in our lives is where we allow ourselves to become entwined with Him and His Spirit and His word. "One will put a thousand to flight, two ten-thousand, and a three-fold cord will not easily be broken". This refers to relationship in general but more specifically in the context of this message it refers to a balanced relationship on a personal level between us and the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. When these are out of balance the cord is just string and in this case, it loses its strength and its ability to "wick" the oil, or in other words, draw the fuel up from the reserve tank in order to be burned.

The flame

It says that "our God is a consuming fire". As we worship Him and lay our lives down, as we give our very essence to Him, the lamp will shine.

The relationship between the lamp and the oil is an interesting one. We can have all the oil in the world but it will not allow the light to be shone in remote places and in homes, etc.

 if it is not used in a lamp or similar device. It would just all burn out of control in the one place and then it would be gone. Kind of reminds me of several movements where the fires of revival burned without boundaries, out of control, like the Toronto Blessing and many similar "outpourings" within the charismatic and Pentecostal moves.

 If we wish to be effective in the dark times and "so let our light shine that men should see our good works and glorify God" then we need have a LAMP mechanism working in our lives. How do we do this? We use the word of God to bring structure in our lives in such a way that we become a "vessel of honour" where we are able to carry that anointing easily and safely, where we are able to use the oil to bring light instead of spilling it and burning down the house. This is where Jesus is no longer just our saviour but is also LORD. It is where we say "no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me" and "not my will but Yours be done" and we allow the word to constrain the Spirit. The oil needs to be constrained by the brass container and only be released in the proper way in order to bring the light. Otherwise it will not be useful but will just create a spectacle and fail to achieve its purpose.

Oil speaks of the anointing

The anointing is the power of God on a particular object or person in order to achieve a particular task or purpose. In Hebrews it quotes the old testament prophecy in regard to Jesus, the Anointed One. It says:

Hebrews 1:9 NKJV  "YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS; THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS MORE THAN YOUR COMPANIONS."

In order to develop the anointing in our lives we need to love being right with God and we need to HATE lawlessness. In this context lawlessness refers to a life lived outside the constraints and boundaries of the Word of God. There is that BALANCE again. We need to LOVE and we need to HATE. We just need to make sure that what we love and what we hate are lined up with the principles and standards in and of the Word of God. Speak the truth in love.

In Corinthians 13 it tells us of the qualities of God's love. This is the only kind of love that counts in God's economy, in the Kingdom of God, and in the long run. Here it says that love HATES evil but REJOICES in good. So in reality the application of the authentic love of God (as opposed to all kinds of human love) brings the anointing and is an expression of it. 

To allow the anointing to grow we need to decrease and He needs to increase.

The other side of it all is that the lamp without oil is just another piece of junk. If we have the structure of the law without the love of God and the anointing of the Holy Spirit then we are useless.

Trimming the wick

After a time of burning the wick gets charred. Regardless of the purity and abundance of oil, the wick (our lives) will become worn out and inflexible, unable to draw more oil. Every move of God has a season and an end date. If we want to shine on for Him we need to put the lamp out for a bit, cut off the damaged and burnt-out parts and leave the fresh new stuff exposed. We then plumb the depths of our relationship with God through His anointed word and ignite afresh. We repeat the process until there is no more wick and we have come to the end of our lives. Then God will say "well done good and faithful servant, enter into my rest".

How do we trim the wick?

When a season or more in our lives is over we need to recognise that and stop holding on to it. We need to stop trying to re-live our glory days and put it to bed. We look at where we are in relation to where God wants us. We remove the dead, burned bits through cutting off the dead and unproductive habits, traditions, and sometimes relationships with people and organisations and start afresh. This cutting off must not be nasty but in a spirit of love, forgiveness and letting go. Some may come with us but if they don't have enough oil or if they don't trim their wicks we move on without them. Remember, Jesus showed us that this is an individual thing. There were a number of them, wise and foolish. 

There were two groups, or categories, but it was determined by each individual's preparation and the cost they paid along with their recognition of the situation. They all ended up paying but only half entered in, that is the ones who paid up front rather than when there were no other options left.

There are no hitch hikers. Each one must make his own way in this.

  Sure, it should be in a group as it is not good for us to be alone but we need to make sure that we are with the right group.

FORGIVENESS

14/9/2010

Over the years I have struggled with forgiveness. Some of the things that have happened to me and have been done to me are horrific. Bitterness and negativity took over my life, contaminating everyone around me. What they did to me, what they stole from me and the damage they did. Try as I might I couldn't get free. I tried going to them and sorting it out. They would say I had the problem and that they didn't. Even an apology or admittance of guilt would ease the pain.

My life is in tatters. Relationships broken down. Low self-esteem. No confidence. A loss in the sense of His anointing and presence. A sense of betrayal, isolation and powerlessness had overcome me. I knew I was better than this. I know that isn't the real me. Everyone around me relates to me as if I were someone else.

I hit rock bottom last month. Blaming everyone and everything that had brought me to this place. I cried out to God, saying "This is all too much for me. I am trying my best and it's not good enough. I miss Your anointing. I can no longer sense the mantle on my shoulders but I know You are calling me back to some kind of ministry." "What are You doing in me?" "It would have been better had I not been born or saved if I were to see those things of God and taste of His glory and wield His mighty power and then lose it all." "Why call me and gift me if it is going to end this way, destitute and divorced again."

God spoke to me and said that nothing that happens can separate me from His love. He said that He knew what He was doing and that He has not changed His mind. He said that sin is what separates me from Him. I said "but what have I done wrong that I hadn't acknowledged, confessed and repented of?"

He showed me that NO ONE can take away my confidence in Him except me. My faith has been tried and has come up wanting. When those people said and did those things I must have believed it. Some part of me accepted the package of lies that was put on me. I allowed myself to let go of those precious gems He had given me.

Did those people take away my faith? Well, they don't seem to have it. Can they give it back? Not likely. Why am I looking to them then? I let it go. They don't have it. Did they take away my joy? Same. Did they take my peace? No. In "Boundaries" by Cloud, et al, they say that if we are not forgiving someone it is because we want something from them. When I look to those people to give back what I think they stole from me it is ridiculous. They haven't got it. I still do. The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. GOD WILL NOT TAKE THEM BACK. THEY ARE NOT TRANSFERRABLE (although some aspects can be imparted to someone else).

I have not lost any of those things but they are sitting there for me to take up again whenever I am ready. When I am prepared to face the brutal fact that I am the one who stopped walking in Him when I put responsibility for the state of my heart onto someone else I will be able to do something about it. This is my life. I have power over what I believe. I have power over what I allow in my heart and in my mind. I HAVE SINNED by abdicating, by believing lies about me and about God. I have lived by excuses and blaming others for my responses to their terrible deeds.

So I took my life back. It was always mine. No one can take away that relationship I have with Him, only me. I miss God and I miss the real me. No more excuses. No more blame. Jesus said that persecution would come. He said that we would be attacked, killed and rejected. These things happen. Whether it be the devil, a heathen, the government, the church or even those who have care over our souls and have breached our trust, it doesn't matter. It comes down to what I allow to reside in my heart. No one can make me be or do anything that I don't want to be or do.

I called out to God to forgive me for trading in His joy for anger, forgive me for trading in praise and thanks to Him in all things for judgement and unforgiveness. Forgive me for trading in Your faith for fear and negativity. I did those things. I repent. Forgive me.

It is a daily walk. Sometimes it is still hard to deal with what has happened but I refuse to throw my life away by giving power over me to others. It is my life, not theirs. I am a man of God and what that means is that I am His, first and foremost. I keep my heart for Him. If I am deceived - so what? If I have a devil - so what ? "Let everything within me praise the LORD". I choose to live for Him. I have to work with what I have and I am not expected to know everything. I don't really care what those people said or did any more. God will deal with them as He has in me. "He doesn't want any to perish but that all would come to the knowledge of the truth." The truth is that the kingdom of God is within me and that has to do with me and Him - no one else. NO more excuses.

Forgiving those people is easy now. I have received forgiveness for throwing away my confidence and God is restoring it. What He does with them is His concern. I am part of the answer, no longer part of the problem.

The key is in working with the things that are our responsibility and not taking on those that are not. I acknowledge that my pain, my damage, the state of my soul are my responsibility, no one else's. I take full blame for where I am at. I take back my power. I have full control over my heart. I am free. "And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." " If a man's heart condemns him not then he has confidence with God". I can come boldly into the presence of God because I am a sinner who has been and continues to be forgiven. When I fail to identify my sin or if I make it someone else's or if I say it is not sin then I can not apply the power of the cross to it and be free.

"He who the Son sets free is free indeed".

Now when something happens to me I still feel the hurt, that is natural and normal, but I turn to God and ask for healing and I forgive the other party and focus on what it is in me that allowed me to be harmed. "The god of this world comes but he has nothing in me". When those things happen I now ask myself "what is it in me that allowed that result?" "Have I allowed my fears or a lie about me to lodge in my heart?"

I know who I am. He and I are inseparable and I allow His word to search my heart and "see if there is any wicked way in me". All is laid bare. I have nothing to prove except that His love for us is greater than any other thing and that if He is for me then who can be against me?

Pastor Garth Clarkson

Where Has All The Power Gone?

I thought I would borrow the title of the old hippie song that was commenting on the destruction of the environment by increased development and industrialisation "Where Have All The Flowers Gone".

I know. Who would remember that one?

It just seemed appropriate seeing as I was commenting on the state of the expression of the power of the Holy Spirit in the contemporary church in the wake of Post Modern Deconstructionism and the Emergent Church Movement.

I really didn't plan this message. I was doing a sound and lighting check at the recording location and it was like someone put a bomb under me. I just started preaching and it felt soooo good after such a long break that I just went with it.

Yes, if you look carefully you can see some clever edits where I have removed references to real people and/or organisations and there are some where I got old timers' brain freeze and cut out the bits where we take a little nap mid sentence (or mid word LOL).

If you do choose to watch these, please don't be offended, that is not where I am coming from. Also make sure that you watch both parts. Don't go off half-cocked and upset after just watching part one. You need to watch both in order to get the full message as part two balances it out IMHO.

Cheers,

Pastor Garth Clarkson

 



Hello there! Where do I start? Here of course...

Where do I start?

I am developing a YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/GarthClarkson/, but video production takes a fair bit more planning, time and effort to get the ideas presented effectively. So I need a place to put down the stuff I haven't had a chance to put into a video yet.

I have been inspired by my wife (Narelle Clarkson), she lives such a busy life but she has a real way of expressing herself with words and has started a blog http://torkanwalk.blogspot.com.au/ which I have enjoyed and it is good to see her able to express herself. Please check it out and give her a like.

So I thought I might start a blog as well. Although I am awkward and heavy with my words they make you think and though I am not nearly so eloquent as her, I have loads of ideas and thoughts that might have value in the public arena.

So - here it is - stuff I have written down over the years that can live here while I get around to getting it into video format. Some of it will never get to video so here is as good a place as any.

Cheers,

Pastor Garth Clarkson

PS. Here is my first video on my YouTube channel.