Hearing God & the Manifestation of Prophecy

                               (Baptism - Ferris State University students)

Here are notes from when I was with Real Life Campus Ministry of Ferris State University. On "Hearing God and the Manifestation of Prophecy." 

Ps 126:5-6 - Those who sow with tears

    will reap with songs of joy.
⁶ Those who go out weeping,
    carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
    carrying sheaves with them.

Is It Possible to Hear From God?

On occasion, in my Philosophy of Religion classes at Monroe County Community College, I have told my students that I hear from God; that God speaks to me. I share this in the context of the many God-discussions that take place in this class which revolves around issues of the existence or non-existence of God, and the nature of the God of theism.

I do hear from God. God does speak to me. These claims should shock no one who is a Christian theist. Our Scriptures tell us to expect this. Dallas Willard asks, “Should we expect anything else, given the words of Scripture and the heritage of the Christian Church?” (Willard, Hearing God Through the Year, 12)

The ancient Israelites heard the voice of God speaking to them out of the fire (Deut. 4:33).

The prophet Isaiah had first-hand experience in hearing from God.

Isaiah 58:9, 11 says:

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; 

you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I…

The LORD will guide you always; 

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land 

and will strengthen your frame. 

You will be like a well-watered garden, 

like a spring whose waters never fail. 

For the past 42 years I have spent several hours each week going to a solitary place and praying and listening.

I am certain we can hear from God, for these reasons:

1. Scripture tells us we can and should expect to hear from God.

2. Personal experience has verified this for me.

3. The testimonies of many other Jesus-followers throughout history attests to the reality of God speaking to his people, both individually and corporately.

4. “Prayer” defined as “taking with God about what we are doing together” implies that God is our dialogical partner.

This relates to the New Testament spiritual gift of prophecy, since ““Prophecy” can be defined as “the reception and subsequent transmission of spontaneous divinely originating revelation.” (Wayne Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy)

The “reception” of revelation from God requires “hearing” God. I assume this is possible. If it’s not, then the gift of prophecy Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 14 is not possible.

“Prophecy” is a word from God that is, precisely, something beyond my own wisdom. Such a prophetic word from God transcends my own thinking.

Prophecy is an “I would never have thought of that” kind of moment. In this regard it is different from a prepared sermon, although one hopes that in sermon preparation the preacher hears from God.

Ben Witherington writes:

• A prophecy certainly was not a sermon by 20th-century standards. It was a spontaneous utterance prompted by the Spirit (cf. vv. 29 ff.) and based on a sudden and uncontrived revelation from God (v. 30).

It was controllable by the speaker, however, and was unlike pagan ecstatic utterances of the Dionysiac sort. In Christian prophecy both the mind and the spirit are edified.

Note: I’ve read and talked with some who say “In the past people heard directly from God, but since we’ve had the Bible this has stopped.” I have never agreed with that, one reason being the Bible itself tells us we should expect to hear from God. 

John Piper – There is no text in the New Testament that teaches the cessation of these gifts. [emphasis mine] But more important than this silence is the text that explicitly teaches their continuance until Jesus comes, namely, 1 Corinthians 13:8-12.

While it may be hard at times to discern if that voice in your head is from God or not, this difficulty does not eliminate the possibility of hearing from God. The following is not logical:

1.           I don't hear from God.

2.           Therefore it is not possible to hear from God.

How Can We Discern Whether We are Hearing from God or Not?

I have found that hearing God’s voice has been an acquired ability. My threefold counsel on how to hear God’s voice is as follows.

1. Spend much time with God, in his presence.

2. Saturate yourself in the Christian Scriptures.

3. Hang around people who do #s 1 and 2.

I assume hearing from God is possible, that God is able to communicate to us, and desires to do so. Surely we can expect God to assist us in the listening process.

My Desire to Prophesy

Linda and I talk with many who share their struggles with us.

A few times the results have been astounding, even miraculous.

Yet there remain many who are stuck in their addictions, bondages, and illnesses.

At times we are clueless, having no answers, and sometimes seeing no path to walk on.

Our own strength and wisdom is far from enough.

On the other hand, the God we believe in is all-knowing and all-powerful and all-loving. Such a Supreme Being is able to see the Big Picture, the Path to freedom. What if we could resource Him?

Who wouldn't want to access that? Not for some personal show of power that acts like we are the originator of brilliant God-ideas.

If we truly love people and want them to have life abundantly, who wouldn't want the gift of prophecy? Who wouldn't long for such manifestations that would strengthen, comfort, and encourage those we love and care for?

That's why I desire to prophesy. Not for my own self and glory, for the sake of others, with all glory being given to God.

I'm praying that this Pauline desire to prophesy would be the desire of your heart.

Dwell deeply in His presence today. Listen for His voice. When He gives you a strengthening, comforting, and encouraging word for another Jesus-follower, risk sharing it with them. When I do this I don't add "Thus saith the Lord." I often say, "I feel God has given me something to share with you. Check it out, between you and God, for yourself.
 

ONE MORE THOUGHT…  The gifts are for everyone.

The early church did not hand out "Spiritual Gift Inventories," so people could find out what their spiritual gift is. I think that's a misunderstanding. The situation was more fluid and organic than that. 

In 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 Paul writes:

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Gordon Fee, in his brilliant commentary on First Corinthians, writes:

""Each one," standing in the emphatic first position as it does, is [Paul's[ way of stressing diversity; indeed, this is how that diversity will be emphasized throughout the rest of the paragraph. He does not intend to stress that every last person in the community has his or her own gift...  That is not Paul's concern. This pronoun is the distributive (stressing the individualized instances) of the immediately preceding collective ("in all people"), which emphasizes the many who make up the community as a whole." (589)

Fee writes that what "each one" was "given" was not a "gift,' but a "manifestation of the Spirit." "Thus each "gift" is a "manifestation," a disclosure of the Spirit's activity in their midst... [Paul's] urgency, as vv. 8-10 make clear, is not that each person is "gifted," but that the Spirit is manifested in a great variety of ways. His way of saying this is that, "to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit."" (Ib.)

This is about the Spirit manifesting himself within the Jesus-community, and not a statement about spiritual gifts being given to people once and for all. 

Desire the manifestations of the Spirit.    

Books That Can Help You Understand Prophecy
  

·                     Wayne Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today. This is the best scholarly text on prophecy by an excellent New Testament theologian who embraces the spiritual gifts for today. Especially valuable is Grudem's explanation of the distinction between prophecy in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.

·                     Jack Deere, The Beginner's Guide to the Gift of Prophecy. Jack is an excellent biblical scholar who values the gift of prophecy in the church today. This is a very helpful, clearly written book.

·                     Jim Goll, The Seer: The Prophetic Power of Visions, Dreams, and Open Heavens. We've used this in our ministry school. I found it to be very wise and practical.

·                     Dallas Willard, Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God. Outside of the Bible this is one of the books to read on the matter of hearing the voice of God. 

***

John Piper on Spiritual Gifts Today (and Especially Prophecy)

I'm thankful for John Piper's views on spiritual gifts as being for the church today. Here's Piper talking about this, from here.

“I am one of those Baptist General Conference people who believes that “signs and wonders” and all the spiritual gifts of 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 are valid for today and should be “earnestly desired” (1 Corinthians 14:1) for the edification of the church and the spread of the Gospel. I agree with the words of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, preached in 1965:


“It is perfectly clear that in New Testament times, the gospel was authenticated in this way by signs, wonders, and miracles of various characters and descriptions . . . . Was it only meant to be true of the early church? . . . The Scriptures never anywhere say that these things were only temporary — never! There is no such statement anywhere.” (The Sovereign Spirit, pp. 31-32)

. . . I want to argue in this section that the New Testament teaches that spiritual gifts (including the more obviously supernatural or revelatory ones like prophecy and tongues) will continue until Jesus comes. The use of such gifts (miracles, faith, healings, prophecy, etc.) give rise to what may sometimes be called “signs and wonders.” Therefore, signs and wonders are part of the blessing we should pray for today.

There is no text in the New Testament that teaches the cessation of these gifts. [emphasis mine] But more important than this silence is the text that explicitly teaches their continuance until Jesus comes, namely, 1 Corinthians 13:8-12 . . . .
. . . Both of these phrases (“seeing face to face” and “understanding as we have been understood”) are stretched beyond the breaking point if we say that they refer to the closing of the New Testament canon or the close of the apostolic age. Rather, they refer to our experience at the second coming of Jesus . . . .

This means that verse 10 can be paraphrased, “When Christ returns, the imperfect will pass away.” And since “the imperfect” refers to spiritual gifts like prophecy and knowledge and tongues, we may paraphrase further, “When Christ returns, then prophecy and knowledge and tongues will pass away” . . . .

Therefore, 1 Corinthians 13:8-12 teaches that such spiritual gifts will continue until the second coming of Jesus. There is no reason to exclude from this conclusion the other “imperfect” gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. Since these include miracles, faith, healings, etc., with which we associate “signs and wonders,” there is clear New Testament warrant for expecting that “signs and wonders” will continue until Jesus comes.

Now add to this conclusion the forthright command in 1 Corinthians 14:1, and you will see why some of us are not only open to, but also seeking, this greater fullness of God’s power today. This command says, “Make love your aim, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” And it is repeated twice: “Earnestly desire the higher gifts” (12:31); “Earnestly desire to prophesy and do not forbid speaking in tongues” (14:39).

I wonder how many of us have said for years that we are open to God’s moving in spiritual gifts, but have been disobedient to this command to earnestly desire them, especially prophecy? [emphasis mine] I would ask all of us: are we so sure of our hermeneutical procedure for diminishing the gifts that we would risk walking in disobedience to a plain command of Scripture? “Earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.”

I have come to the point of seeing that the risk lies in the other direction. 

It would be a risk not to seek spiritual gifts for myself and my church. [emphasis mine] It would be a risk not to pray with the early church, “Grant your servants to speak your word with boldness while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through your holy servant Jesus.” Disobedience is always a greater risk than obedience.

Much of my experience disinclines me to “earnestly desire spiritual gifts,” especially the gift of prophecy. However, I do not base my prayer for such spiritual empowering on experience, but on the Bible. [emphasis mine] The Scripture is sufficient for all circumstances by teaching us the means of grace to be used in all circumstances. And I agree with Martyn Lloyd-Jones that one of the means of grace needed in our day is the extraordinary demonstration of power by signs and wonders. Here is what he said:

“What is needed is some mighty demonstration of the power of God, some enactment of the Almighty, that will compel people to pay attention, and to look, and to listen. . . . When God acts, he can do more in a minute than man with his organizing can do in fifty years.” (Revival, pp. 121-122)

Distorted Ways of Thinking

                                (In my front yard, meditating on a cloud.)

Philippians 4:8 says: 

Whatever is true, 

whatever is noble, 

whatever is right, 

whatever is pure, 

whatever is lovely, 

whatever is admirable

—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy

—think about such things.

Loving God with your mind involves thinking about things that are true. In opposition to truth, here are seventeen types of incoherent thinking.

CATEGORIES OF DISTORTED AUTOMATIC THOUGHTS

1. Mind reading: You assume that you know what people think without having sufficient evidence of their thoughts. "He thinks I'm a loser."

2. Fortunetelling: You predict the future negatively: Things will get worse, or there is danger ahead. "I'll fail that exam," or "I won't get the job."

3. Catastrophizing: You believe that what has happened or will happen will be so awful and unbearable that you won't be able to stand it. "It would be terrible if I failed."

4. Labeling: You assign global negative traits to yourself and others. "I'm undesirable," or "He's a rotten person."

5. Discounting positives: You claim that the positive things you or others do are trivial. "That's what wives are supposed to do-so it doesn't count when she's nice to me," or "Those successes were easy, so they don't matter."

6. Negative filtering: You focus almost exclusively on the negatives and seldom notice the positives. "Look at all of the people who don't like me."

7. Overgeneralizing: You perceive a global pattern of negatives on the basis of a single incident. "This generally happens to me. I seem to fail at a lot of things." In logic, thjis is referred to as "hasty generalization."

8. Dichotomous thinking: You view events or people in all-or-nothing terms. "I get rejected by everyone," or "It was a complete waste of time."

9. Shoulds: You interpret events in terms of how things should be, rather than simply focusing on what is. "I should do well. If I don't, then I'm a failure."

10. Personalizing: You attribute a disproportionate amount of the blame to yourself for negative events, and you fail to see that certain events are also caused by others. "The marriage ended because I failed."

11. Blaming: You focus on the other person as the source of your negative feelings, and you refuse to take responsibility for changing yourself. "She's to blame for the way I feel now," or "My parents caused all my problems."

12. Unfair comparisons: You interpret events in terms of standards that are unrealistic. For example, you focus primarily on others who do better than you and find yourself inferior in the comparison. "She's more successful than I am," or "Others did better than I did on the test."  

13. Regret orientation: You focus on the idea that you could have done better in the past, rather than on what you can do better now. "I could have had a better job if I had tried," or "I shouldn't have said that."

14. What if?: You keep asking a series of questions about "what if" something happens, and you fail to be satisfied with any of the answers. "Yeah, but what if I get anxious?" or "What if I can't catch my breath?"  

15. Emotional reasoning: You let your feelings guide your interpretation of reality. "I feel depressed; therefore, my marriage is not working out."  

16. Inability to disconfirm: You reject any evidence or arguments that might contradict your negative thoughts. For example, when you have the thought "I'm unlovable," you reject as irrelevant any evidence that people like you. Consequently, your thought cannot be refuted. "That's not the real issue. There are deeper problems. There are other factors."

17. Judgment focus: You view yourself, others, and events in terms of evaluations as good-bad or superior-inferior, rather than simply describing, accepting, or understanding. You are continually measuring yourself and others according to arbitrary standards, and finding that you and others fall short. You are focused on the judgments of others as well as your own judgments of yourself. "I didn't perform well in college," or "If I take up tennis, I won't do well," or "Look how successful she is. I'm not successful."

(Adaptyed from Treatment Plans and Interventions for Depression and Anxiety Disorders, by Robert L. Leahy and Stephen J. Holland.)

J. P. Moreland provides a list of distorted thinking traps in his excellent book Finding Quiet: My Story of Overcoming Anxiety and the Practices That Brought Peace. 

They are... 

1. All-or-nothing thinking. (If you’re not perfect or if you get anything wrong, you’re a total failure.)

2. Overgeneralizing. (“I always do that.”)

3. Mental filter. (You pick out a single negative detail and dwell on it.)

4. Discounting the positive. (If you did a good job, you tell yourself that anyone could have done it.)

5. Jumping to conclusions or mind reading. (You interpret others’ actions, tone of voice, or body language in a negative way or, like fortune-telling, you assume and predict that others don’t like you and that things will turn out badly.)

6. Magnification or catastrophizing. (You exaggerate your weaknesses or the harmful aspects of events that have happened or may happen, thus minimizing your strengths or the odds that the event will never happen and, even if it did, the results won’t be that bad.)

7. Emotional reasoning. (You actually believe that reality is the way you feel.)

8. Inappropriate “should” statements. (“I should avoid being around people because they will see what a loser I am.”)

9. Self-labeling. (“I made a mistake, so I am a loser.”)

10. Self-blame. (You blame yourself for events outside your control.)

(pp. 74-75)

For more on loving God with all your mind, see:

J. P. Moreland, Loving God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul

William Lane Craig and J. P. Moreland, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview

Dallas Willard, "Jesus the Logician" 

How to Pray Effective Prayers (Webcast)

How to Pray Effective Prayers 

To Disagree Is Not to Hate

(Tree roots - Lake Erie - Monroe)

(I'm reposting this to keep this ball in play.)

Here's a note to all who want to sit around the table and have interfaith dialogue. Interfaith dialogue is hard work, because you have to address different religious beliefs. The way you address them is not to affirm disparate beliefs. There will be no authentic interfaith dialogue if that happens. 

When I was a campus pastor at Michigan State University (1981-1992) I met with many religious leaders. We all held different core beliefs. In some cases, our worldviews were diametrically opposed. Obviously, we did not agree on many things. Did this mean we hated each other? Of course not. To label someone a "hater," or accuse them of "hate language," just because they don't agree with whatever your position is, is uncivil and irrational. (Welcome to the new world of microaggressions and cancel culture. See The Chronicle of Higher Education for university examples.)

We who are followers of Jesus are called to agape love. This love is so radical it even instructs us to love our enemies! People in my church, and those who follow me on this blog, know I have been praying to love even those who are my enemies. Jesus' command to love tells me it is possible to love people who hate me and come against me. Surely, then, I can love people who disagree with me.

To feel anger is not to hate. Over our forty-seven years of marriage, Linda and I have had moments of anger towards each other. But this does not entail that we hate each other. What we do with our feelings of anger can lead to hatred, which is not what God wants. When we are told to "be angry, but don't sin," this means anger does not equal hatred. To still love, even when in disagreement, even when angry, is a sign of spiritual maturity and freedom.

As a follower of Jesus, I am not allowed to say these words to anyone - "I hate you." 

Conversely, saying "I agree with you" is not to love. Agreeing or disagreeing has nothing to do with love or hate. Love and hate concern how we respond when in disagreement, when feeling anger.

I learned a lot about disagreeing with others in studying philosophy. Philosophy classes are arenas of formulating arguments and evaluating them. Every formulation is subject to evaluation. Evaluation produces tension and a conflict of ideas. Many times, in those sometimes-intense discussions, I heard words like, "I believe you are wrong about that," or "I disagree with what you just said, because..."  

Of all the philosophy professors I had, only one was unwelcoming of disagreement and dialogue. The rest were dispassionate and, as much as anyone can be (because no one can perfectly be), objective.

Philosophical disputing was welcoming and inviting. And, there was significant questioning and disagreeing.

Lying in the background of all this are the Platonic dialogues. Here is where the art of respectful disagreement was learned. All philosophers have been shaped by these forums.

Philosophy classes taught me how to disagree without hating. I learned that disagreement is not logically equivalent to hatred. Hatred, when it happens, is a sad non sequitur to disagreement. It was sad that Socrates was killed by the hatred of some who failed to understand him. The way Socrates handled this has been a model of disagreeing while not hating.

My philosophy professors expected disagreement and questioning. They made the classroom a safe place. I learned that a safe place is not a place where everyone agrees about everything. A safe place is a place where people can disagree and learn and grow in wisdom.

A safe place is a place where disagreement is accompanied by love and respect. An unsafe place is a place where disagreement breeds hatred.

A safe place is a place for civil discourse. An unsafe place is a place where you don't have a voice.

A safe place is a place where people come first to understand, and only after understanding is achieved, to evaluate. An unsafe place is where people judge without understanding.

A safe place is a place where you can be angry, but sin not.

Anger is not hatred. A parent can be angry with their child, and not hate them at the same time.

Anger is the emotion you feel when one of your expectations has not been met. Hatred is rooted in anger. Hatred is not the emotion, anger is. Hatred is a sinful expression or response or reaction rooted in anger. Anger is an emotion you feel. Hatred is expressed in something you do.

To disagree is not to hate.

To feel anger is not to hate.

***

SEE ALSO

Welcoming and Sometimes Disaffirming

It Is Irrational and Unloving to Affirm All Beliefs

Affirmation Is Not Equivalent to Love

To Love Is Not to Agree

Should We Affirm Everyone's Worldview?

7 Things God Lovingly Hates

Learn Prayer by Praying

 

 Dear Pray-ers, 

 I want you to learn about prayer, by praying. 

 In 1977 I taught a course on prayer at Northern Seminary, in its Master of Divinity program. My main assignment for the students was to pray thirty minutes, every day, for twelve weeks. I knew that, in a course on prayer, students had to engage in actual praying. To not pray in a prayer class would be like studying swimming, while never getting in the pool. 

 A few students objected to this assignment. Instead of actually praying, they wanted to read books, and write papers, on prayer. How absurd! I knew my students would learn more about prayer by praying, than can be gotten from reading books or writing research papers. 

Imagine a research paper on swimming, by an author who has never entered the water. The purpose of a swimming class is to bring us into relationship with the water. The purpose of the Bible is to bring us into relationship with God. 

As wonderful as God’s Word is, God himself is better. When the psalmist sings “better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere,” it’s because the presence of God is there. 

 It's like this. I’d rather talk with my wife Linda than read a book about her. I prefer sitting on the beaches of the Caribbean Sea, more than reading about it. I’ll take eating Gino’s Chicago pizza over looking at photos of it. Better to taste and see for myself, than read about how good it tasted to others. 

 Eugene Peterson said he wanted to do original research on praying, rather than dispense hand-outs about praying. Peterson wanted to teach from his own experience, and not live as a parasite on the first-hand spiritual lives of others. 

 My dear sisters and brothers, I counsel you to pray, and discover, first-hand, the possibilities and actualities available in God’s presence. 

 Love, PJ 

ASSIGNMENT 

 Identify a place where you can get alone with God, 

 with minimal distraction, 

 and pray. 

 Begin with thirty minutes. 

Devotion to Praying

 

 Dear Church, 

 You must devote yourself to praying. 

 The apostle Paul, in Colossians 4:2, instructs the Christian community in Colossae to devote themselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 

The word ‘devote’ is intense. It has the following meanings. To adhere to someone or something. To be steadfastly attentive. To persevere and not to faint. 

 To be devoted to prayer means… 

 … gluing yourself to the act of praying 

 … making a praying life your priority 

 … never giving in to prayerlessness, even, and especially, when life is hard. 

 Linda and I have a framed saying on display in our home. It reads, “You have my whole heart, for my whole life.” I see it every day, multiple times. I love those words! I know about this thing called devotion. I am devoted to my wife Linda. I am spiritually glued to her, in a bond of covenant love. I love being with her. 

 As a young man I was devoted to learning to play guitar. No one had to tell me that I had to practice. I wanted, so badly, to play well! 

 When a person is devoted to something, you won’t be able to separate them from the object of their devotion. 

 Apply this to praying. 

 Be devoted to prayer. 

 Persevere, and do not faint. 

 Give unremittingly to meeting with God and praying. 

 This is core Christian behavior. We see it in the early, prototypical church. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 33 (Acts 2:42) 

 I want you, and your church, to emulate this. 

 Love, 

 PJ 

 DEVOTION 

 Devote yourself to praying for a Move of God in your church, 

and beyond. 

 Be like William Booth, who viewed himself as a Move of God.

From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Praying.

A Prayer Tree and A Holy Indifference

(Walking through trees in my backyard)

When we lived in East Lansing one of my prayer places was thirty feet up in a tall pine tree in a forest preserve. The branches formed a ladder leading upward. It was an easy climb to the two thick branches that formed a seat. Many times I climbed that tree, hung my backpack on a branch, sat on that natural seat, and prayed. I loved when there was a slight wind that gently waved the tree from side to side. I would close my eyes and think of the Holy Spirit, shaping and forming me.

During that time I wore a leather wristband I had made. On the wristband I burned the words "A holy indifference." I got the phrase from Henri Nouwen. Nouwen prayed that he would have a holy indifference to the opinions of others, so that he might have a holy concentration on God. 

This word was for me, too. If I had a holy indifference I would be able to more purely love people. I would not go up and down with what others thought of me. I would be free from people-pleasing, and striving to gain others' love and avoid others' criticism. 

I had been doing too much of that. The result was much outward striving and agitation in my heart. So, I carved "a holy indifference" on a leather band, wore it on my wrist, climbed a tree, and prayed. 

One day, as I was in the praying tree, God told me to take off the wristband and tie it around a branch. I felt I could let it go. God was doing a good thing in me. I was moving into greater freedom, from pleasing people to loving people.

That was forty years ago. Sometimes I think of going back to the praying tree, climbing it one more time, and touching the leather wristband which has now become part of the tree. I'm writing "a holy indifference" on a 3X5 card and carrying it with me today. I'm commemorating the freedom God brought into my life many years ago, while swaying high in the praying tree. 

***
Is it possible to hear from God? I've written about this in Chapter 5 of my book Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God.

Realize Your Own Faults

Justus DuPlessis - third from the right: David DuPlessis, on the Pope's right hand.

Somewhere in my first year at Redeemer (34 years ago!) a good-hearted man came up to me after church. He was crying, wrapped his arms around me, and said, "I don't care what others are saying about you. I think you are a great pastor." While embracing him, with eyes wide open and not feeling comforted, I said, "Thank you." I was the object of some discussion, fairly and unfairly. 

I had faults that needed addressing. Charles Spurgeon once wrote, 'Get a friend to tell you your faults, or better still, welcome an enemy who will watch you keenly and sting you savagely. What a blessing such an irritating critic will be to a wise man, what an intolerable nuisance to a fool!'

There is a time and a place to be told of one's faults. This may come either directly from God, mediated through the Scriptures by the Spirit, a friend who knows you and loves you, or even an enemy.

You have faults. The question is: Are you correctable? When this is a God-thing it is received with words like, "Thank you, God, for revealing this to me." God uses people who come to grips with their own faults. God will not continue to use people who do not have periodic "Search me O God" moments.

Thirty years ago the great South African leader Justus DuPlessis spoke at our church. Justus personally met with the Pope, being the representative of the World Pentecostal Church. I found him to be a powerful person of God, and attribute what God was able to do through Justus to things like his humility and teachability. He must have been 70 years old when he was here. 

He stayed at our house. I asked him, "What was it like to meet with the Pope?" He pulled a picture out of his wallet, and there was Justus standing with the Pope. I thought perhaps I should show him some pictures of me on vacation. I don't think so!

Justus said, "I want to meet personally with you and show you something." The next day we met in my office, where he pulled out a 300-page doctoral dissertation written by a South African Christian leader. It was on the gift of tongues and other charismatic phenomena. Justus had just spoken at Kenneth Copeland's church, and Copeland had extra copies made so Justus could give me one. "I want you to review this and tell me what you think. I believe God could greatly use this work to help pastors. Please let me know what you think about this tomorrow."

I took the dissertation home and began to read. It was good work, but I knew that pastors would never understand it. It was highly technical and academic, and filled with dissertationisms. I knew I had to tell Justus what I really thought. How would he receive it?

The next day we met again in my office. I told Justus the truth about what I thought. "Pastors will not be helped by this book in its present form."

I will never forget what happened next. Justus said, "Let's go into the sanctuary and pray." Once in the sanctuary, now standing by the communion table, he said, "Let's kneel." Then Justus prayed. I did not know what to expect. He prayed, "O God, thank you for sending me to a man like John who would tell me the truth and point out my error." Justus asked God for forgiveness, thanked God for his great mercy and grace, and thanked God for me.

As for me and my soul, I knew we were both in the presence of God. I was not thinking about how great I was in doing this, but that next to me was a man who was a lot wiser and far more experienced than I. I was getting another one of those  life-lessons that will never be forgotten.

Be teachable.
Realize your own faults.
Confess them before God.
Thank God for the rescue.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
- Psalm 139:23-24