Fire On Your Head

“…. the Jerusalem which is above is free….” -Gal. 4.26a

“For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his own works….” -Heb. 4.10

There is a sabbath rest which has been opened up to God’s people through the cross, and we need to resist all religious activity that flows from any other place. Even prayer itself is subject to lesser and unheavenly influences, for if our intercessions spring from our own emotions or minds, or are robotic and contrived, we are not likely touching the heart of God or pushing back the powers of darkness. We need to come into the prayers of Jesus Himself, not by striving, but by a radical surrender to His heart, and harmony with His mind. This is where the authority lies, which we shall see from a man who knew this reality in real life experience.

Thomas Haire was one of a remnant in history who was acquainted with the rarefied air of the heavenly Jerusalem, and his prayers moved things in spiritual places and shifted things on the earth in a manner that we know far too little of as the Church of modern America. We would do well to hear from this remarkable man.

He was a friend and co-intercessor with Leonard Ravenhill, and travelled with him in a manner much like Father Nash, who was Charles Finney’s “Epaphras” (Col. 4.12-14) during the great seasons of revival and awakening in the 19th century. Haire and Nash were both less known than the men they travelled with, but their labors were no less impactful, and only the Day of the Lord will tell how profoundly their obedience and love invaded history with the light of eternity.

A.W. Tozer was so impressed with Haire’s character and prayer life, that he wrote a booklet about his life even before Brother Haire went on to be with the Lord. I want to leave you with a few thoughts from this life-long intercessor, who happened also to be a professional plumber from Ireland. We can learn something from a man who spent over 50 years praying 4 hours a day, decades of which he went sleepless for 3 nights a week, giving himself over to Spirit-endued intercession on behalf of the Church, and a dying world that he loved so fervently.

I haven’t the time or space to note all of the elements of his devotion, which would challenge and encourage any open-hearted believer. You can find Tozer’s full account online if you search for it.

What hits my heart presently is that Thomas Haire, according to Tozer, was the kindest and most tranquil man that he had ever known, and though his devotion to prayer and intercession was marked with awesome intensity and depth, he was not a tense personality, as many who pursue revival seem to be. This marks him out as unique, I believe, for his sabbath peace was also combined with a remarkable authority and dominion in prayer that we have rarely seen in our day. Souls passed from darkness to light, many were healed physically, and God was glorified wonderfully on the wings of Thomas Haire’s prayers. Through all of the remarkable answers to prayer, revivals, and movings of God, he was also a very gentle and kind man, who could move from a ground-breaking season of intercession to making a child laugh through a humorous remark. He was rare indeed.

Tozer writes of Haire:

…. always he is relaxed and free from strain. He will not allow himself to get righteously upset about anything. ‘I lie near to the heart of God,’ he says, ‘and I fear nothing in the world.’

That he lies near to God’s heart is more than a passing notion to Tom. It is all very real and practical. ‘God opens His heart,’ he says, ‘and takes us in. In God all things are beneath our feet. All power is given to us and we share God’s almightiness.’ He has no confidence at all in mankind, but believes that God must be all in all. Not even our loftiest human desires or holiest prayers are acceptable to God. ‘The river flows from beneath the throne,’ he explains, ‘and its source is not of this world. So the source of our prayers must be Christ Himself hidden in our hearts.’

‘Too many of God’s people are straining for faith,’ says Tom, ‘and holding on hard trying to exercise it. This will never do at all. The flesh cannot believe no matter how hard it tries, and we only wear ourselves out with our human efforts. True faith is the gift of God to an obedient soul and comes of itself without effort. The source of faith is Christ in us. It is a fruit of the Spirit.’

(A.W. Tozer, Thomas Haire: The Praying Plumber of Lisburn; Rare Christian Books)

Of prayer, Tozer gives us more of Haire’s thoughts:

According to Tom, there is such a thing as strategic prayer, that is, prayer that takes into account what the devil is trying to accomplish and where he is working, and attacks him at that strategic point. ‘Don’t waste your time praying around the edges,’ he says. ‘Go for the devil direct. Pray him loose from souls. Weaken his hold on people by direct attack. Then your prayers will count and the work of God will get done.’

Tom makes much of the believer’s authority in Christ. Over the protests of the cautious expositor, he appropriates Scripture that might be proved to belong to a future age. ‘God says we are kings and priests,’ he declares, ‘and what is a king without a kingdom? There is a sphere where we can have full dominion in prayer. Complete authority is ours. We only need to ask and we shall receive.’ If this were mere theory we might dismiss it as being simply an error in interpretation, but is has been proved in the fires of practical living. God has given to His praying servant great power to command, to demand, and the results have been and are many and unusual.

I dare say the kind of authority and dominion Mr. Haire spoke of is something scarcely touched in our generation. There have been many boasts of dominion, shouts of authority, and we have cranked up the music loud enough to move every soul in the building, but the heavens are not moved by sweat and noise. The depth of Christ’s character and the profound union with God that Tom Haire had come into were the foundations of his great authority in prayer.

Before Tozer convinced Haire that his story needed to be told for the sake of the Body, the old praying plumber resisted the idea. Not wanting to be popularized or tempted with fame, he replied in his own Irish way, “I don’t want to lose me power with God.” His secret life with God, formed through decades of engaging in prayer, was more precious to him than anything else in his life or ministry.

Do our self-promoting ministries know anything of such “power with God”? Are we guarding a deep and holy union with Christ that has been formed through years of concentrated prayer and worship, or are we being tossed to and fro by the latest teaching or movement? Have we neglected the primacy of secret prayer and leaned too hard into public efforts, expending energy, burning time, and building works that are mostly “wood, hay, and stubble”? Are we rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, or barely keeping our heads afloat, drinking in the spirit of the world and following Christian fads? Thomas Haire’s “power with God” is a quickening reminder of the possibilities of grace, the glories of communion with God, and the remarkable sabbath rest and authority that the Lord places upon a man when he is in harmony with Christ through the Spirit of prayer.

May the Lord raise up tender-hearted, fervent, holy, and hidden laborers again in our day. May we cast off any pursuit that causes us to lose our power with God. May we shake off all that stifles the Spirit of prayer. May we put first things first once and for all. May the same Spirit that rested on Thomas Haire, make His habitation amidst the Church at large, for the glory of Jesus!

I thought I’d take the time to post another “how to have faith” entry, but this time just list several Scripture verses to help remove some misunderstandings about faith and how it works and what it is believers do have exactly.  This post will be technical instead of deep and profound.

Why study faith?
Because the Bible is clear about what promises we are to obtain by faith, and what it produces in our lives or what lack of it will fail to produce. If God places within our hands the means whereby faith can be produced, then the responsibility of whether we have faith or not rests upon us. It is therefore necessary to know how this takes place if we are planning on going further into the promises of God that we obtain by faith.

Romans 12:3 – “For by the grace of God given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith God has assigned.”

• We are each given a measure or amount of faith, by the grace of God.

Ephesians 2:8 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

• The measure of faith that we each have, is a gift from God, that He gives based on His grace towards us. We don’t ‘earn’ faith, it is a gift given.

Romans 10:17 – “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.”

• Pretty simple and straightforward—hearing the Word of God produces faith. Therefore, it’s a good idea to make sure to read and study the Word of God, speak it and meditate on it, just like the following verse says:

2 Cor. 4:13 – “Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak.”

• What we believe influences what we speak. The Bible also says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt 12:34). What is in your heart? What are you saying?

2 Thess. 1:3 – “We ought to always give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.”

• Our faith can grow. If it can grow abundantly, then the opposite must also be possible, in that believers can fail to grow in the area of faith. If it can grow, or stay small, then that must mean believers can be at different degrees of growth when it comes to having faith, would it not?

Romans 4:19-20 – “He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.”

• We can be strong in faith, or we can be weak in faith. Notice “Abraham grew strong in his faith AS he gave glory to God”. It’s reasonable to assume that your faith will grow if you decide to glorify God while you’re waiting for the promise you’re believing for to finally come to pass. Don’t keep asking God to fulfill His promise, but glorify Him and thank Him for it.
  

1 John 5:14-15 says “And this is the confidence we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him.”

• Thank God and praise Him for the answer to your prayer before the answer has been manifested. This is KEY to seeing the promise fulfilled.

Philippians 4:6-7 also brings this to light, as it says “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

• If we believe God has granted us the answer to what we ask of Him we will not be anxious in waiting for its fulfillment. Anxiety over if God will fulfill His promise is symptomatic of a heart that is uncertain of whether God will in fact answer. If you are seeking something He has promised in His Word, then you can know His will on the matter, and seek the answer more confidently. If you don’t give your prayer with supplication AND thanksgiving (before the answer has come) then God won’t in turn guard your heart and give you the peace that keeps you from being anxious about it.

Another important component to developing faith is found in Hebrews 11. The whole chapter is great, but for brevity’s sake, let’s look at verse 6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He is and that He rewards those who seek Him.” If you have a translation of the Bible that words it that believers are to believe that God “exists” grab a pen and scribble the word out and put “is” instead. Many modern translations mistranslate this when the original text has a connotation of God “being” [as He is]. Believers in Jesus Christ ALREADY know that He exists! What are believers to believe God “is”? Read the rest of the verse—that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

The believer will have a hard time standing on any promise in the Word of God if they stumble over the fact that God is provider or any other character trait made clear in His word about Himself. “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? (Num 23:19) Any doubt of who God is and if He will perform what He has promised will cause the believer not to seek God, Who is a rewarder of those who seek Him. It’s as simple as that.

I strongly suggest this past post on mountain-moving faith, for more on how we bring ourselves to that point, because I’m going to say some things as though the reader is already familiar with the concepts found in Mark 11:23-24. Jesus never told us just to believe. But he did tell us to speak, and believe that we will have the things we say/pray for. Again, notice the speaking and what we confess. What are we told in this passage to believe? That the things we say WILL come to pass. So what are you saying? Are you whining all the time about your problems? Or are you speaking victory and freedom? We are told to speak to the mountain what God’s Word says, but most Christians speak to God about the mountain.

Too many Christians are like Pharisees and don’t have a clue they are. I’m not talking about the legalistic obedience of man-made rules—I’m talking of the ones who won’t and don’t believe until they see. That’s not faith. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). If you could see it, then that wouldn’t be faith. When most Christians say they’re cautious and skeptical of something (like healing) and they won’t accept it until they see it for themselves, they’re really just broadcasting their ignorance and unbelief. Believing it when you see it is knowledge, but not faith. These believers are walking by sight, not faith. Bless their hearts.

More Scripture verses on faith:
James 2:5 – “Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which He has promised to those who love Him?”

• If we can be rich in faith, we can be poor in faith also, wouldn’t you agree? It doesn’t take being poor in this world’s standards to be rich in faith either, you know!

Acts 6:5a – “And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit”

• If we can be full of faith, do you think we can be empty and lacking it? Or running on near empty?

James 2:22 – “You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works.”

• Again, I hope my over-simplification of these verses doesn’t sound condescending or patronizing, but most Christians don’t think of these things: if your faith can be active, it can be inactive. It can lack actions to demonstrate or go along with the confession of your mouth. Faith is active and demonstrated by actions, not just a mental belief. Check this entry for more on how faith is not mental.

1 Tim 1:5 – “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”

• If faith can be sincere, it can be insincere, no?

1 Tim 1:19 – “Holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this some have made shipwreck of their faith.”

• How do people shipwreck their faith, by the way?

1 John 5:4 – “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.”

• Faith is how we overcome. If we are not overcoming, is it possible, according to this verse, that maybe–just maybe–we aren’t walking in our faith? If our faith is how we overcome, then yes!

Now I strongly suggest going over these verses for yourself, memorizing them, studying them, familiarizing yourself with them even if you think you already know them.  I don’t like formulas, but something that can help you is the following if you’re facing a mountain you need to speak to and throw into the sea—and make sure you have your bathing suit on, too.

A Four Step Formula for Faith:
1- Find a promise in God’s Word for whatever you are seeking.
2- Believe God’s word as you would the word from a friend.
3- Do not consider the contradictory circumstances
4- Praise God for the answer, acting on the Word of God.

If this entry blessed you and you’d like to hear further teaching on faith and how to have more of it, then consider listening to this teaching of mine on the subject:

Faith and Healing -

Download mp3 (right click and save)

And be sure to let me know if you got that pair of socks you were believing for (see last post’s analogy).

What does that statement really mean? I hear it used a lot. Maybe you don’t. But I sure do. I don’t know if I will post this in two parts or just one post, depending on if I can be concise enough or if it merits exploring further in a few days.

Have you ever noticed the glaring difference between Paul who said this in the New Testament, compared to those of us who say this about ourselves today?

I’ll give you a hint right away as to where I’m going with this: We misquote Paul all the time to justify our carnal lifestyles, whereas Paul said he becomes all things to all men, through self-DENIAL of things, as a means to not be a stumbling block to others.

I’m all about being relevant (another overused Christian catchphraze losing its relevance the more it’s used), but I think the manner in which many ministries and individuals are doing it is nothing short of glorifying carnality in order to not come across as out of touch and too traditional to the culture around us. But in the process of achieving our society’s acceptance of us as a movement or force, have we in fact lost our relevance? I think so, but only in many cases.

I hear people tell me things, in justification of places they go, activities they participate in, things they watch, stuff they listen to, and things they drink–and they often quote this passage (maybe not even knowing the book or the author who said it). And for some reason, I couldn’t really figure out why it hardly ever jives with me.

Let’s take a look at a chapter of Scripture and I can tell why (I hear some of you moaning that I’d post that much, but hey, if you’re a Christian, you should LOVE the Word of God). First Corinthians 9:

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?
If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
This is my defense to those who would examine me.
Do we not have the right to eat and drink?
Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?
Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?
Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?
Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same?
For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned?
Does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop.
If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?
If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.
Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings?
In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting.
For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship.
What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.
To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.
To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.
But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

OK, I won’t make this exhausting, but notice some things (such as CONTEXT).

• Paul talks of freedoms he has because of freedom in Christ and from being an apostle, but he doesn’t use these freedoms. (v. 1, 4-6,11-12, 15)
• Paul doesn’t want to be an obstacle for anyone else’s salvation or faith in Christ (v.12)
• Paul has made himself a servant (certain translations say slave) in order to be relevant to others. (v.19)
• The context of this passage, especially as detailed toward the end of chapter 9, is one of self-discipline and refrain, not one of endulging and engaging [in freedoms]

There are places where Paul talks of things like how there’s nothing wrong with doing certain things, but if they would offend others who knew of him partaking in such, he would never do it again if it caused someone to stumble (eating meat for example, Romans 14:20-22). A modern example we could use is alcohol–a grey area where some abstain, and others find nothing wrong. I will not reveal my side of the issue here, but I will say I usually am disapointed with the arguments those in favor use, and the defense people use when confronted or someone indicates they’re uncomfortable with the idea Christians drink. In fact, I hear the “it’s my freedom” card all the time, but can you imagine Paul–who talked of his freedoms–arguing with a weak believer why he won’t give something up even though there’s “nothing Scripturally wrong with it?”

When Paul writes he’d rather die than cause another to stumble, I think it leaves little argument as to what he thinks of that attitude. Yet many Christians would label you legalistic or judgmental if you even suggest some “grey area” offends them. In fact, the “all things to all men” stuff, Paul is usually giving up and abstaining from things, not indulging in them, in order to be relevant and not a stumbling block to others. We’ve got it backwards?

I hear people say to me all the time (just so you know, I hardly ever ask or suggest not going, but other people bring it up more than I do)–that going clubbing with unsaved co-workers or school-mates is “the only way to reach them or share something in common with them and that’s how you’ll share the Gospel”. Too funny, and too lame. For one thing, if you want to go clubbing, do so, but don’t pretend it’s for spiritual reasons. When I hear this, I always ask the person if they can introduce to me someone they’ve led to Jesus from going and getting hammered with them. I’m not bluffing either–nor do I ask it to be difficult or holier than though, but I’ve never been introduced to any “bar hopping ministry” converts.

In a tragic example of how come this doesn’t work, and that it’s always easier to get sucked into sin than it is to rescue people out of it, I remember before going to FIRE years ago, a deeply passionate and intense brother in the Lord started going to parties and bars as a witness to a sport team he was on–which going to a bar in and of itself I’m not against–like setting foot in a pub is not a sin, and I don’t crap my pants when I hear of men of God going out for a drink with their friend or shooting pool, but I hardly believe social dancing really ever benefits many with the Gospel. Just my humble opinion after a few years of observing–for the simple reason that believers need the same dope from the world in order to unwind, then we show we really aren’t satisfied with what we’ve got, so why should they want our Gospel?

Anyway, there’s this particular night club in Peterborough, known for having a booth on stage where a random guy and girl enter it together, and are given something like 30 seconds to disrobe on the inside of it, and trade as much clothing as possible, and whatever stage of dress or undress they are in, they come out of the booth before the audience. This bar’s trademark contest was common knowlege to me since I worked across the street at a Subway franchise for almost a year, but what was not common knowledge–or expected was when someone sent me a web link showing me that the particular brother I mentioned a moment was one of the people who participated in that the week earlier and won the contest they have! Yikes.

For some reason seeing him in his boxer shorts with a girl topless with blurry lines covering her upper body doesn’t strike me as what the apostle Paul had in mind when “becoming all things to all men”.

Friends, let’s get real and not twist Scripture to fullfill the lusts of our flesh, but give them up and live above board on every matter, even grey areas. I don’t mind tattoos and piercings on believers, or styles of MODEST clothing that resemble current trends and styles, but I think I’d rather wear a suit and tie to reach the lost more than pierce myself in eighteen different places to become “relevant” to a certain peer group. Much of the reasons we come up with for doing certain things is usually to defend the fact we WANT to do certain things, and hardly ever to reach anyone or anything.

Isn’t that the truth? Be honest now.

Or “Teams that practice at 6am win games at 7pm.”

This is not going to be heavily theological but just simply one of those “I was thinking lately…” entries and try spitting some thoughts out in a concise manner.

I’ve been amused in the last year to be called the “L” word by some interesting characters.
But talking about what is OK and what is not, is not the intention of this entry. I want to veer off into another thing that it doesn’t matter what your personal convictions about prayer, personal holiness, how we spend our time, and personal life disciplines. But, my intended reader of today’s entry are those of you who have clearly never noticed Paul said “everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial for me.”

For example, there is nothing wrong or sinful with watching TV or movies in and of themselves. You could even be watching clean ones, but if it is at the expense of alone time with God, I’ll encourage you to give it up. I don’t mind a show or a movie here and there in my own life. But if you’re spending more time in personal entertainment than you are in personal commune and intimacy with God, trust me, it’s not a spiritually healthy place to be in. Try making the shift and see if I’m being “legalistic”.

I was driving to a place in town that was going to replace the van’s battery for me. As I was driving on the Parkway to the location, I just barely saw a billboard as I was driving past it enough to see its catchphraze, but had missed what the advertisement on it was for. It read “teams that practice at 6am win games at 7pm.” And I thought there’s an amazing truth to that.

How about we “Christianize” it and make it say “Christians who pray in the morning are ones that win battles in the evening“.

Or “Short public prayers are always preceeded by long private ones.” as my teacher Bob Gladstone used to say.

If two hockey teams had it out on a rink, and one team practiced several hours a day together, and their opponents didn’t, but played video games and watched TV all day while eating pizza and drinking lots of soda, and didn’t even come together until it was time to put their skates on and play that match–which team do you think would win? It would be a total fluke if the couch potatoes won, but otherwise most of us expect it would be the well-disciplined team.

Now, let’s spiritualize this and add what I see happen in Christian circles all the time: Imagine the game is over, both teams are exiting the rink and walking to their locker rooms, and fans are lined up outside the entrance of the winning team’s change room, and only a few are at the losing team’s door. A little boy asks one of the star players of the winning team how he prepares for these games. The player starts listing off his morning routine, including practicing with the team several hours, and gets into his own personal workout regimend and talks about how many push-ups and sit-ups he does, what his diet is like, etc… The boy is then fascinated and challenged about his own self-discipline in comparison to his hero’s, and inspired by this testimony is encouraged to start eating less junk food among other things.

Meanwhile, the opposing team’s locker room door is not many feet away from the winning team’s (I know this is not true in real life, and they’re usually on other sides of the arena, but bear with me for this imperfect analogy), and the team’s captain is standing within earshot, since there are practically no fans standing around his team’s door waiting for an autograph. So for about thirty seconds, he listens to the other player as he shares his morning routine with this little boy, and he balks at it in disgust and mumbles “that guy is so legalistic.” In fact, he’s bitter listening to the other player because deep down he knows all that excercise has paid off in this man’s physical strength, accompanied with the group effort causing the team to be winners consistently. He knows the team dynamic is stronger as a result of practicing together his commitment has paid off. However, instead of this defeated athlete changing his own lifestyle, he just scorns the winning athlete for his success.

You’re laughing as you think about that, right? I laugh too when I hear most Christians throw around the word “legalistic” in description or reference to some others’ lifestyles. Ok, hockey players won’t use the word legalistic in describing self-discipline, I know, but I wanted to replace it with that word to make my point.

Discipline in the Christian life is not legalistic. Try it some time: Try praying in tongues for an hour and then start watching TV and see how your spirit feels. Or, try watching TV for a pro-longed amount of time, and then pray in tongues for at least 15 minutes, and tell me if it’s any harder. Tell me the difference your stomach feels between eating a banana and eating a slice of pizza.

I’ll never forget when I was sixteen years old my friend Matt was on my highschool’s rowing team. He told me one time before a morning practice, he smoked just one cigarette, which he had never done before in his life. Then he went to his practice and used one of the rowing machines, and he said in mere moments he felt a tremendous difference on his lungs, and was out of breath faster. He looked me in the eye when recounting that and said something like “I’m never smoking another cigarette again if that’s the difference it makes to my performance.” He was focused, he was not going to let the slightest thing hinder him from his goals.

The author of Hebrews told us to do this when he said “let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perserverance the race marked out for us” (Heb 12:1). But if my experience tells me anything, merely suggesting ways this applies to the Christian life will get me labeled legalistic the instant I name sins or hindrances to a spiritual walk with God. I don’t care, I bet star athletes laugh when they hear people in worse physical shape than they talk about how excericise isn’t necessary, and that “all hockey players are equally good hockey players”. I know bunches of Christians who are entertainment pushers. When you get around them all they talk about is the latest movie or the latest episode of Lost or Survivor. Don’t get me wrong, I love a few good TV shows myself now and again myself, but if that’s what dominates your fellowship with other people, or dominates enough so as to replace anything in your walk with God–something is wrong. I know a bunch of people, if you even SUGGEST something is wrong to watch, or even listen to–then man, you are just being judgmental and legalistic and out of touch with culture. There’s no room for the possibility of improving ourselves and casting off such hindrances. Leonard Ravenhill used to say that entertainment is the devil’s substitute for joy.

One time, a friend of mine, very angrily and with a lot of cussing told me that he doesn’t fast or speak in tongues and he’s “just as close to God as anyone”. There’s truth, and tragic misconception to that statement simultaneously. Yes, all believers have the same access to the Father, but are all on the same level of intimacy with Him? Does each of us USE that access all the time accordingly? Do we all spend the same amount of time alone in prayer with Him or have the same personal history with Him? Of course not. Fasting, prayer and speaking to ourselves in tongues doesn’t get us closer to God than someone that doesn’t do any of those things at all. But I guarantee you there’s a difference in the lives of those two people. It simply helps remove layers of our flesh and crucify it so that there’s less in the way in our relating to God. Prayer, fasting, and praying in tongues don’t change God or make Him become closer to us, they fix us. A fruitbearing tree is one that has its roots sunk deep in good soil and gets proper refreshment–all of this is demonstrated in the kind of fruit we bear in our lives.

I can tell you from being a ministry school student and from serving in ministry now, that I have seen first hand the difference between ministering out of the place of intimacy vs. spending my time entertaining myself in my spare time, and seeing a marked difference in both my lifestyle, and my minstry results. I heard someone preaching on this once, and started getting angry on the inside at him when I heard this kind of teaching, because I knew what the “non-sinful things” in my life were that I didn’t want to avail myself of…until he said the reason he didn’t watch TV or a lot of movies, was because he used to see large crowds during altar calls, and operated dramatically in the prophetic giftings. But he told me the difference came when he let his prayer life slip, and found himself doing more foolish things with his time such as video games and TV. Then when he went to preach he had markedly less results. When he fixed these things in his life, and started communing with the Holy Spirit more again, and cut out of his life the junk he’d let in, he saw the Holy Spirit move powerfully in his life.

Friends, we need a relationship with God on an ongoing basis more than we need correct doctrine about what is allowed and what isn’t in the Christian life. Am I negating the importance of correct doctrine? Nope. But I have seen something over the years that shows me many people who overzealously study doctrine are some of the more critical and mean people I know. Some of them will blast you with their assessment of what’s wrong in your life, but have no idea how to do so with gentleness and grace–the kind that come from being alone with the Father.

Adding a little personal self-discipline is one of the best things you could do, and is hardly legalistic. Give it some thought. What could you stand to axe from your life?