The Toronto Blessing

Flying home from Canada this week I had good reason to reflect on the things that the Lord had shown me whilst I was away. I came home from Philadelphia via Toronto. I had been my invited there by my friend Mike Zenker who is the pastor of Hope Fellowship. Mike had asked me to come and facilitate a leadership conference on the Saturday and then to speak in the church on the Sunday morning. I was honoured. When I asked Mike what was on his heart he said that he wanted to discuss with his leaders what leadership in the grace paradigm looks like. Having just finished writing The Apprentice which is the second book in the Until Christ is Formed series I couldn’t have wished for a better subject to be asked to speak on. The book is due for publication early in 2008. As I waited upon the Lord for a lead about what was on His heart for the Saturday conference I felt led to teach through the book of Philippians in four one hour sessions under the heading of “The Poured Out Life.” And this I did, dividing the book into four segments:

• Chapter 1 “To live is Christ”
• Chapter 2 “Emptying Oneself of ‘Self’
• Chapter 3 “From Self-Confidence to Christ’s Confidants”
• Chapter 4 “I Can Do All Things”

It was a blast. You can listen to the Sunday morning talk which was called Deep Calls to Deep online and if you ask Mike nicely he might be able to source you the MP3’s from the Saturday sessions as well.

In my new book which is about the teenage phase of grace. There is a chapter called The Bar Mitzvah Boy As you will see I use the metaphor to depict the believer’s coming of age. It was that it has always struck me as curious that in the Jewish tradition, the Bar Mitzvah celebrates the Jewish boy’s passage into manhood at such a tender age. The “child” celebrates his Bar Mitzvah on the Shabbat falling immediately after his thirteenth birthday.

That single moment indicates that the boy is taking upon himself the responsibilities of a man before God and Israel. In the New Testament era, when the young man celebrated his Bar Mitzvah (literally, “son of the commandments”), as part of the ritual, he would typically be tested on his knowledge and belief in the Temple. In the Jewish culture, the insightfulness of a person’s questioning and reasoning skills was evidence of his maturity or lack thereof.

For the Young Man in the Union Life paradigm, it is interesting to note that his Jewish counterpart recites a portion from Shema Israel – “Sh’ma Yis’ra’eil Adonai eloheinu Adonai echad”. We know it as Deuteronomy 6:4 – “Hear, O Israel: The Lord your God, the Lord is One”. By way of correlation, the mystical development of that declaration lies at the very heart of the Union Life message. In this plausibility structure, we see that “Oneness” is not simply a monotheistic mantra but an acknowledgement that the believer is one with God. In other words, the Lord our God is One and we are one with Him and in Him.

As Norman Grubb elegantly expressed it –

“Jesus gave us the vine and branches illustration. Through this our eyes are opened to the secret of the universe: union – the mystery of the universe: how two can be one and yet remain two …. The living God, the living Christ, and I actually become one person and function as one person. Separation is impossible. It has disappeared. We function entirely and forever and naturally as one person. And yet we remain two!”¹

The teenager has been ushered into the deeper truth. Having exchanged “having faith in God” to “having the faith of Christ in God”, he is now being groomed to represent God before Man as an ambassador of Christ. As he continues to mature, he will increasingly learn to see and regard no one from a human point of view. Rather, he will see Christ as all and in all and see that Man is not to be “frightened” into heaven but is to be enlightened so that they may see that the Kingdom of God is within.

We have long since disassociated the word ‘grace’ with the word ‘power’ and in particular we have distanced the word from anything [or anyone] to do with the charismatic gifts. If I have a bone of contention with the Exchanged Life community it is that we have taught grace as though its only purpose was to save you. We are saved by it, justified by it, forgiven by it, sanctified by it etc. But sometimes when I listen to grace teachers I feel a bit like one of the rabble back in Numbers Manna AGAIN!?!?!? Come on Preacher ain’t you got anything else in that fridge of yours?”

People who have been in the Exchanged Life or the Grace Movement if you will are to step-up-their-game. If Canada is anything to go by then I can tell you that the relief and anticipation that there is a life beyond justification-by-faith was almost palpable. There is more to this grace thing that you realise. The problem is that even the best of the grace teachers don’t realise what we’ve got.

So I find myself being part of a growing chorus of disapproval: Crying - Oh that we had meat to eat! But hold on a minute we do have meat and fish, and cucumbers, and melons we’ve got it all. But I know it’s a godly irritation. I don’t want to go back to Egypt I want to get into the Promise Land!?!?!

Weren’t we given everything for a life of Godliness?

Ro 1:5 - Lead us in the apostolic grace that will bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations.]

Ro 4:16 - Bring us to the place where we enter into the promise of God which rest on grace and which has been guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring.

Ro 5:21 - Show us how we reign in this life by grace

Ro 12:6 - Help us to EXERCISE not EXORCISE The charismatic gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them:

· if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;

· if service, in our serving;

· the one who teaches, in his teaching;

· the one who exhorts, in his exhortation;

· the one who contributes, in generosity;

· the one who leads, with zeal;

· the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

· Let love be genuine.

1Co 3:10 - Show us how to use the grace of God given to me, to become a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.

1Co 15:10 - Let us show them that Grace Works, for we are able to work harder than any of them, though it is us, but the grace of God that is in us.

2Co 8:7 - Let us excel in grace

But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.

2Co 9:8 - Let us abound in grace that we may abound in every good work.

2Co 12:9 - Grace is sufficient

But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Eph 4:29 - The Power of life and death is in the tongue: Grace gives life, law brings death

Heb 13:9 - Grace strengthens us

Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.

Don’t forget our mission statement: The Grace Project exists is to change the way that the world perceives Christianity by changing the way that Christians perceive God one Christian at a time. Its not just our brothers in legalism that need to repent is it. They’ve made God to be cruel, our crime is to make him to be too small!

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