POSTS FROM MY WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ARTICLES- new weekly articles (starting December 31, 2022 can be found on my Facebook page - Good-Cheers Movement Makers (by invitation). Below is a sample:

July 6

A friend of mine recently sent me a link to a video of a man I was not familiar with. Jamie Winship started out his career as a New York City policeman. He was a new believer and felt like most of the policies that were in place were not doing a very good job of changing the lives of those who had gone down the wrong path and continued to make wrong choices. He started asking the Lord for strategies that would be effective in the war against crime and change the lives of those he had to confront and deal with.

He had a unique approach that ended up bringing the kind of results that put him in front of government leaders on a national level and for over 25 years had a dual role teaching high school in Muslim countries while doing espionage work undercover. He led many to faith through his understanding of the lack of purpose and identity that a majority of people have – in any country with any religion including those who practiced a form of Christianity but were not living in the fullness of who their Creator designed them to be.

He asked the audience he was speaking to (the video I watched) to write down some of the negative traits or descriptions that come to mind when you think about who you are. For most all of us, that is not a hard thing to do. Most of us are more critical of ourselves than anyone else is. He then asked everyone to close their eyes and imagine they were standing before Jesus and giving Him that piece of paper with those negative descriptions written on it. Using their sanctified imagination, what did Jesus do with that piece of paper? Around the room came answers like, “He shredded it”, “He lit it on fire”, He wadded it up and threw it away. In other words, Jesus did not like those descriptions at all. He then asked them to ask Jesus, Who do You (Perfect unconditional Love) say I am?

My friends who had told me about this man did that exercise this past week and both of them independently got a word from the Lord that described who they are perfectly. It was not a word they had used to identify themselves prior to that encounter. I did the same thing this past week and felt like I too had what this man calls an “identity exchange”. We can exchange our old identity and mindset for His description of us. He actually encourages people to do this on a regular basis. In other words, take some time regularly to exchange any ungodly beliefs that you may have been tempted to identify with and allow Jesus to exchange them with who He says and sees that you really are from His perspective. Perfect Love sees us more clearly and accurately than we see ourselves. Others may or may not agree with Jesus, but He sees each one of us through eyes of perfect love and perfect design!

I have been working with a ministry that has used a slightly different technique but the end results could be the same. Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and then renewing your mind and way of talking and thinking to line up with the truth found in the word of God can change your whole life and direction. One of the most foundational questions we need to answer is who am I? The other question we need to ask ourselves is why am I here? When you really know the answer to both of those questions, it is easier to make good decisions and live from a place of victory and confidence.

We sing songs about our transformation like “He gave me beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness…” and yet so many times we yield to the accusations of our enemy. We believe the lies he speaks over us and when we keep speaking them out, they become self-fulfilling prophecies. I have undermined myself by the words that come out of my heart then my mouth because I was not walking in the fullness of the truth available to me. The rest of that song says “that we might be – trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” It really is about bearing His image to a world that is trying everything but Him for their satisfaction and for life’s answers.

When we truly walk as Image Bearers who know who they are from His perspective, we will not walk in fear and inferiority. We will walk in boldness and confidence in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation. There are millions of people all over the earth, some of whom our lives may touch, who need to see someone who is bearing His image in their daily lives.

May I encourage you to sit with Jesus and exchange your current identity for His perfect view of who He created you to be? When you begin to see yourself like He sees you, you will then begin to portray that image to those your life touches. You might be surprised at how easy this way of living opens doors of opportunity to share the good news of our Savior with those who have yet to know Him in this way.

JUNE 2022

Last week I shared about developing intimacy with the Lord. Did you know that the same word used in 1 John for fellowship (Koinonia) is also talking about our relationship with other believers? We are encouraged to have intimate fellowship with other believers as well as with the Lord. Remember the word Koinonia means communion, joint union and even intimacy (like the kind between and husband and wife).

Most all of us have had negative experiences with other believers on some level. So your first reaction to my statement above could be “there is no way I am going to open myself up again to be hurt, offended, taken advantage of” (or for any number of other valid reasons to use caution in developing new relationships). I understand your caution but want to encourage you to consider the value and importance of true Koinonia.

We are created by our God in His image and likeness and that includes the fact that He is a tri-part being. He is One but He manifests Himself in three personalities – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. According to 1 John, they have perfect Koinonia – they are always in one accord, in complete union and communion with each other. Jesus prayed to His Father in John 17 for us to be one the same way He and His Father are one. Perfect fellowship with one another is what they have and what they want each of us to have.

With that thought in mind, I want to give you one reason why we must strive to make this a reality. For centuries the church (or Ekklesia (Greek) – the governing body of believers) has been divided and therefore less powerful than we could be. The Lord designed us to “take dominion and authority”. He wants our lives to reflect His nature and character so that we can bring order out of chaos, peace out of turmoil and demonstrate to the world what He is truly like. The early church saw a good amount of conflict and tension among the leadership. Jesus’ disciples were vying for the place at the left and right hand of Jesus when He entered His kingdom. Peter and Paul did not always see eye to eye as we see mentioned in the book of Acts. Paul and Barnabus had definite differences which lead to them parting ways.

Scripture weaves the concept of unity and its resulting power to change circumstances throughout both the Old and New Testament. “How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity … two are better than one … one can put a thousand to flight and two can put ten thousand to flight.” God Himself said about the people who were in one accord building the tower of Babel that He had to destroy their ability to agree together because of the power of true unity. Unity can be used both for good and for evil.

I think that could be why we are seeing so much evil happening in all spheres of our society today. Our enemy understands the power of working together (even though they may hate each other) to see their evil agendas accomplished. On all levels they have been more effective and powerful than those who have stood for righteousness and truth – for only one reason – we refuse to work together for the good of the whole. Instead of “Thy Kingdom come” it has been about “my kingdom” for many believers and ministry leaders.

I think when we see true Koinonia happening then we will see the authority of believers grow exponentially. We know that when “two or three agree” about anything and ask, believing, we shall see results. Even though things do not look good in our current state of worldly affairs, I personally believe that if the church had been walking in love and unity for the last 2000+ years, things might look very different than they do right now.

However I am not going to give up and just pray for Jesus to get us out of this mess. He will come when His Father says it is time, but I personally don’t expect that to happen until at least a portion (the scriptures refer over and over again to a “remnant”) of the church is operating in the power and authority of the Kingdom of God here upon this earth. As long as I am here, I will do my very best to demonstrate what I think that is supposed to look like.

I have 4-5 groups of people I interact with and pray with regularly. We have a measure of Koinonia in these diverse groups. We were all praying about and stood against the inclement weather that passed over Thomasville. That is the kind of agreement and unity we need to come into in everything where we are expecting the Lord to intervene. We can speak to storms “Peace, be still” just like Jesus when we come into that kind of unity based upon Koinonia. I am very grateful that the Lord heard and answered our prayers for protection. I am certain there were many individuals and groups of believers who were also praying similarly.

As I have stated many times in the past, God has designed each one of us uniquely to express a part or aspect of Himself in a way that no one else can. If we could quit being judgmental and critical of one another and allow each person to function as they were designed by Him to do, we would see a much clearer picture of Him and His Kingdom. We would realize that each part is important and perhaps some of the more “uncomely” parts are contributing more to the overall plan than some of the more prominent parts which always seem to get all of the attention. I long to see us truly honor one another and cheer one another along on their journey. May we be the generation that demonstrates to the world true Koinonia.

BEING AN ENCOURAGER

I am in the process of writing another book. The Lord placed a gift of encouragement inside of me and there is nothing I would rather do than to encourage others to be all that they were created to be. I haven’t always done it well because personalities clash, motives can be impure and insecurity can affect the way you talk to someone. Nevertheless if there was ever a need for encouragers it is now. I don’t think you have to have a gift in order to encourage someone. It is just something that I am aware that I do and want to do whenever the opportunity arises.

Barnabus, the Apostle Paul’s first ministry companion, was called the “son of encouragement”. Not a bad thing to be called for sure! Google dictionary defines encourage “to give support, confidence or hope to someone.” Common synonyms of encouragement are to embolden, hearten and inspirit. They mean to fill with courage or strength of purpose usually from an outside force (another person). King David, before he became king, was in a very difficult situation and scriptures say “he encouraged himself in the Lord.” So whether we can encourage ourselves or have the blessing of being encouraged by another, the power of helping someone to move back into a place of trusting God or moving forward with their life is vital.

All of us that are believers have the most amazing Cheerleader/encourager of all in the person of the Holy Spirit. Even if you don’t have a good support group currently, He is always there for you and to be with you to encourage you. The same Greek word for encouragement paraklesis (noun paraklete) is one of the names of Holy Spirit, our Comforter. It is a calling alongside to help, to comfort, to give consolation or encouragement. My Bible definition goes on to say the paraklete is a strengthening presence, one who upholds those appealing for assistance.

I have been a part of numerous Christian groups with different focuses and purposes but the one thing that thrills me the most is when a group (usually not very many members) is really demonstrating love for one another, supporting each other and encouraging one another to do and be their best. Nothing grieves my heart more when I see gossip, manipulation, competition begin to take over a group of believers that may have started with good intentions and pure motives. When you have a leader who understands the importance of supporting one another and models that, the group will be far more productive and reach higher goals than originally planned or intended. Encouragement can help all of us to go beyond what we normally would do or even think we could do.

I have an online business mentoring group that I am a part of. This group models encouragement better than many churches or other Christian organizations because they are Kingdom of God minded and understand this wonderful principle of cheering one another to do their best and being there for each other when performance or results don’t go as planned and hoped for. This business/Kingdom group has done more to encourage me by just modeling what Kingdom businesses should look like.

As a matter of fact, that group has modeled this principle so well I was inspired to write the book I am currently writing. After just a few months with them constantly encouraging one another I had the idea to invite any of them that wanted to contribute to the book to contact me. Out of this group of about 20 of us, ten volunteered and have shared their perspective on being a cheerleader. Each story is unique but each one testifies of what that means to them. I am hoping this book will model a principle about the impact a few people can have when collaborating together. Although the scripture is talking about spiritual warfare, the same principle applies – “one can put a thousand to flight and two can put ten thousand to flight.” There is exponential power in coming together and being in agreement.

My dream is to have many little cheerleading squads who love each other fervently. They work and walk together and cheer one another on. They model to others just how powerful this atmosphere of comfort and encouragement really is. They can accomplish things together that they could never do on their own. They demonstrate especially to the world what the Kingdom of God should look like – heaven on earth! I want to see these squads operating in businesses in our community, in the schools, at the hospital, in doctor’s offices and every other place that has people working closely together including our city and county government, all of the first responders and other city workers. I want to see this principle (and principal) operating in the churches – among the staff as well as within the congregations.

Some of you have experienced the true Koinonia (fellowship by and in the Spirit) that can happen when a few people determine that they will put the Lord and His agenda and His way of doing things above their own. Our enemy does everything he can to separate us and cause us to be offended with one another. He realizes the power we have when we come into true unity and agreement. The scripture affirms this principle over and over and Jesus Himself prayed for us to be one, even as He and the Father are one. Those are not just pious platitudes but powerful principles that will destroy our enemy’s grip on humanity and the world.

We are in uncertain times and none of us know for sure the process the Lord will take us through to get to the end of this age. I doubt that any of us have it all right but I know as times get more difficult, having those we can really count on to encourage us and walk together through whatever storms may come our way will become more and more important. It never was God’s plan for us to walk alone. He is our Father, He created Family and it is not just our natural family that we need, but our brothers and sisters in Christ who can walk with us through life.

I want to encourage you to cultivate that kind of relationship with a few people. Maybe you have had some negative experiences in the past but that does not mean that the Lord cannot place those people you need now around you that understand the value of encouraging one another. Form or join your own cheerleading squad! Go Team!