Unka Glen: Your Handy-Dandy Guide to Signs and Wonders!

unkaglen:

more-than-a-piece asked: I’ve seen people about my age talking about these experiences they have where they could not control their laughter “from the Spirit” and they were blessed by something and felt waves of the Spirit radiating off of them as they continue in this laughter. I haven’t really heard of this. What’s your view of this?

Unka Glen answered: This so called “holy laughter” movement has been around awhile, and I can give you a way of understanding not just this type of situation, but any kind of “sign or wonder” you might encounter. 

Your Handy-Dandy Guide to Signs and Wonders!

1) God is God, and He can do what He wants. God is bound to do all kinds of wild things with all kinds of people in all kinds of situations. He is not bound or limited in any way, and we should have no doubt that God does all kinds of out-of-the-ordinary things with people every day. BUT… if you want ME to believe in it, that’s another thing.

2) Is it Biblical? If you want me to believe in what’s happening to you, I’m going to look at scripture carefully for some kind of example of it. In the case of holy laughter, some would point to Acts 2:13, where the Holy Spirit came upon the early church, and others observing this thought they were “drunk on wine”. To go from there to “holy laughter” is a bit of a stretch. Is it stretching things too far? Eh. I think so, but I suppose it could be in the ballpark.

3) When, Where, and How. I’ve certainly laughed in prayer, often when I hear something from the Lord that gives me a sense of relief, where that wisdom comes in and breaks down my own foolishness. And I’ve laughed in church when I’ve experienced that same kind of breakthrough in a good sermon, and I think that this kind of laughter is fantastic, and if you dig it, I think that this breakthrough moment is a holy moment, in it’s way. 

But let me say, as someone who has presided over more worship services than any pastor I know, if you want to disrupt a service, by giggling loud enough so that we all take our focus off of the Lord, and put it all on you, then you and I are going to immediately have a very serious conversation, and it’s really not going to go your way. 

4) Signs and wonders do not point to a special status. If you read Numbers 22, you’ll hear the story of Balaam and his donkey. In that story, you’ll discover that the Lord chose to speak through a donkey (not a super-holy donkey either, as far as we know), and it wasn’t Balaam’s great status or faith that brought this about either. In fact, the Lord was quite angry with Balaam.

It’s nice if you have a mystical experience, but God doesn’t reserve His signs and wonders for the super-spiritual. Indeed, if one wants to “take it the the extreme”, remember that Paul told us to eagerly pursue gifts that “edify the church” (1 Cor. 14:4). You giggling away is nice for you, but it doesn’t do squat for the rest of us, so don’t assume that we’ll see you as the holiest one in the room all of a sudden.

5) Discern and pray. Here’s the real bottom line: does God say it’s okay to be skeptical about these things? Paul himself was put to the test in a place called Berea, and unlike the people in Thessalonica, the Bereans took everything that Paul said and examined the Old Testament to see if it fit. So what does the book of Acts say about the Bereans? 

“The Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11). They loved hearing it, they loved checking the Old Testament on it, and they loved finding out that it was all true. Putting things to the test made them more solid in their belief, and they were praised for it.

As for the Thessalonians, Paul ends his first letter to those same Thessalonians with this instruction: “Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil” (1 Thes. 5:20-22). Paul is telling them to put everything to the test, even him. Discerning true from false is not only okay, it’s good, and using prayer to test the signs and wonders you see, is something the Bible directly instructs you to do.

Discerning dem signs =)

I actually find this more in HK, maybe I just go to conservative churches in Australia xD

FROM LEE IN TENNESSEE: Q&A... Rejection, Insecurity And The Way Real Relationships Work.

leeyounger:

stardette asked you:

In your Q&A called “Folks! Crush! Swoon! …” you talk about girls telling their feelings to a guy first. I’m a girl and I’ve done this a couple times before, and I always did it because I secretly wished the guy liked me back too. They rejected me, and I realized it wasn’t right for me to tell my feelings because I was trying to be satisfied with their love instead of the love of Christ. My friend has also been in a relationship where she said her feelings first and she was always insecure.

..

So I Said:

My friend, thank you so much for writing in. I’m so sorry for the kind of rejection you’ve faced and the way it’s made you feel. That massively sucks and I know it hurts. 

I think you’re exactly right that you shouldn’t be sharing your feelings with a guy, but it’s not because girls should never share their feelings with guys. In fact, in your response, you hit the nail on the head. You shouldn’t be making that move because you were doing it to get a guy to like you back. You were trying to find satisfaction in their love rather than in that of Christ. You see, that part is the problem. The advice I gave in the last Q&A makes some assumptions that I probably should have spelled out a little more clearly:

Relationships are risky and you will get hurt, but if you are secure in who you are with Jesus, this pain (although bad) is something you will recover from. No dating relationship can satisfy your soul in the deepest place the way the love of Jesus can. The people you fall in love with will let you down. That is a guarantee. They will break your heart and make you angry and they will sin against you. They do not have the ability to satisfy the longing of your heart. You can only find this in Jesus, period. Until you learn this, you aren’t really ready to be dating seriously. Until you learn this, you will be looking to some finite, sinful person to do for you what only Jesus can do. Not only will they let you down, but you will stress them out (and that’s in the best case scenario where they love you back) - otherwise they’ll just reject you and you’ll be devastated. You have to start with a healthy walk with Jesus that doesn’t need anybody else to make you fulfilled. When you are secure in Christ, then you can have healthy relationships.

The last thing I will say on this whole idea is the fact that “sharing your feelings” is not the bad guy in this deal. Sharing the truth about the way you feel will be the cornerstone of every healthy relationship you have for the rest of your life. That includes friendship and marriage. Sharing your true feelings involves risk, but without it, you don’t have anything real. This is the way actual relationships work. You can’t wait until you have something perfectly secure and serene before you start being yourself - with all the vulnerability and honesty that demands. Honesty starts now. Bravery starts now. Knowing who you are in Christ needs to start now. Ask the Lord for the strength to move past the hurt of the rejection you’ve experienced. Read Ephesians 1 and write down everything it says about who you are in Christ and get that down. When you’re ready and you don’t need his attention or approval, tell an awesome guy you like him. You won’t need his love, but if he gives it, you’ll start a journey together. If he doesn’t, you move on. You have Jesus, so you don’t need that other dude anyway. 

I’m praying for you sister. Praying that Jesus fills you up with everything you need in Him alone so that you can bravely be who you are without fear. Real relationships are meaningless without vulnerability and honesty and they need to start that way. Thanks again for your feedback. I love you and I’ve got your back. 

..

ASK ME A QUESTION

Alright, time to follow a bible reading plan after all these years!

OK, so today (24th October) I decided to start this M Cheyne Bible Reading plan. Link gives nice pdf of plan =)

Hoping I’ll stick to it and looking forward to sharing with the fam when we’re together =D

(oh, and props to Dot for mentioning the plan =)

Unka Glen: Dear Unka Glen: a reblog

I really hate Satan’s lies, deception and distractions. because they are terribly effective on me without being rooted firmly in Christ =|

unkaglen:

An interesting post where Miss Elle turns stuff we’ve written into conversations, first with me, and then with Jed Brewer. Very cool.

elleinwonderland writes:

Dear Unka Glen and Jed,

You are [bleeping] awesome and I love you a little bit right now. I could just send you this but I thought I’d make it public because God knows other people need to know this as well.

So my boyfriend has dumped me. The boyfriend that I honestly felt that God had sent me, who seemed to be exactly what I wanted in almost every single way. And he dumped me because of something that is a seemingly unchangeable part of who I am. I’ve told God the story until He is probably sick of hearing it, I’ve begged Him to give me him back, I’ve asked him to let me have him back if it’s His will, I’ve begged Him to do anything, *anything* to stop me thinking about the situation.

And what you said was this:

Oh, honey. It’s not right, it’s not fair, it’s not okay. It sucks, I know it hurts, and for the record, you deserve way better. What do you do? You move on sweetie. God has better for you, and in the meantime He has healing for you. Moving on is about putting one foot in front of the other. That part is simple. The hard part is avoiding the big fat lies that can really make this part of your life miserable. 

So I already failed at this part Unka. I’m already pretty damn miserable. Church is happy, spending time with friends is happy, and the rest of the time it’s just a big fat ball of misery sitting in my stomach.

Lie: This is my last shot! Ah yes, the all time greatest hit on the suddenly single again playlist: I’ll probably never meet anyone ever again, and die alone, surrounded by all my cats, each dressed in adorable outfits I’ve lovingly crafted for them. 

Truth: God is all powerful, and He wants to see you in a kick butt marriage that glorifies Him. It’s gonna happen. So on behalf of your cats, put down the fabric and step away from the sewing machine.

Good start Unka… you made me smile, which is probably no mean feat.

Love comes from God, and God gives us as much love as we accept. Your breakup doesn’t make you less, it makes you more. Just ask the next person you date how they feel about it, they’ll tell you this: 

“I’m glad you left that old relationship, I’m glad that you don’t hate that person, it makes me happy to think that if this doesn’t work out, we can still be friends. I like that you call me on stuff, and don’t let things get out of hand, based on what you’ve learned. I like that you have the courage to still be a loving and passionate person. And I’m glad you’re no longer in a so-so relationship, and that you’re in this relationship where I can spoil you rotten, and be sweet to you, and cuddle, and picnics, and chocolate, and holding hands, and love notes, and togetherness, and praying, and singing praise songs together.”

And the thing is, you’re right. Because I did learn a lot. I learnt what a Christian relationship can look like. I learnt about some aspects of my personality that could do with some work because they don’t make for good relationships at the moment.

One of the main problems with this break up is that, same as my last one, I feel as if I’m being pushed into thinking that it’s all my fault. And you addressed that one too:

Lie: It was mostly all my fault! The enemy wants you to think that this is a personal failure. That you failed at being in a relationship. You can say it’s all your fault, and then tell yourself that all you have to do is fix you, and hey presto, you’re back in business, but…

Truth: …It takes two to tango baby, relationships are complicated, messy, and delicate. It’s almost never just one side that went wrong. Blaming yourself for the mistakes of others is not a Godly mindset, we already had someone that accepted mistreatment to make things right, and you ain’t Him, okay?

I guess that set me straight then.

Pun not intended, that brings me to the reasoning for the break up I guess. That just brings me to a collossal mess inside my head because I can’t get my head around whether bisexuality/homosexuality is wrong or not. If God gives me a definite sign that it’s wrong them I am more than willing to change… *if* He gives me a definite sign that it’s wrong *and* he shows me a genuine way to change that doesn’t involve me just ignoring and repressing. Unka Glen to the rescue once again.

You’re not in this alone. You are loved. As you are. Let there be left only this— that you make the changes in your life that love demands of you…To make changes in guilt or shame is not an act of love.

Obviously I still need to go and continue praying over this because wonderful as you are, you’re not the big man Himself. But I’ve been asking Him to give me some definite wisdom and right now I think He might be talking through you. Right now, if I try to force myself to become straight, I’m not doing it out of love.

You should know how God feels about something before you go to change it…You should let God change you, in His strength, in his timing, and according to will, not anyone else’s.

Sure, all the stuff on your list are sins, and they aren’t okay to ignore, but remember, if the enemy can’t pull you out, he’ll push you deeper in. If he can’t get you to ignore your sin, he’ll get you so obessed with your sin, you’ll never focus on anything else. And of course he will only give you sins to obsess over that are a symptom of your core problem. You can fix everything on your list of sins, and a whole new set of sins will just pop up in their place, like Kleenex. 

And suddenly I’m no longer sure if my bisexuality is the issue at the moment. The issue is my not trusting God, my fear that because I thought He’d given me this relationship and it went wrong, that He won’t give me another one, and my fear that any future relationship will end because of my bisexuality since this one did. So maybe I need to stop praying about being bi and whether or not God wants that to stop, and start praying to be able to trust Him more, and to recognise that His love for me doesn’t stop or diminish because of my sin, whatever sin that is.

And then I went to Jed - and Jed, what you said was this:

Here’s my question back to you: is there more to you than your sexuality?

Oh Jed, but that’s the lie that the enemy keeps tricking me into questioning at the moment. I feel as if my ex treated me as if the answer was ‘no’. What you said to the person who was originally in this situation was:

can you just sit down with God and talk about something else?  I want you to imagine this for a moment.  You go to God in prayer, and you’re praying about being [bisexual] and how part of you loves it and part of you is ashamed and what should you do – and suddenly, you hear a voice.  And the voice says, “I hear you.  You’re confused.  I understand.  Down the road, we’ll deal with your confusion.  For right now, could we please talk about something else?”

Like my ability to trust in God. And my belief in His love for me, perhaps…

God’s love sets people free – free from shame, free from confusion, and free from repression.  When the time comes, whatever God has for you in the arena of gender and sexuality is something you’ll be able to receive as a gift and a blessing, and not a punishment or a curse.

To another struggling girl you said this:

I see in this question a gal who has committed what Christian culture has (wrongly) made the chief and cardinal sin of our age, and who, in spite of that, finds herself wrestling with the fact that she knows God has something for her.  I don’t hear a girl who’s given up on the idea of a Godly husband, I hear a girl who knows, somewhere within her heart, that there will be a Godly husband, and she doesn’t know how that will work.

Which actually may be where I’m coming from too… whilst it’s tempting to believe that this is it, I’m never going to find someone and I will always be rejected in the future, not all of me honestly believes that. There will be someone, but I don’t currently trust or love myself or God at the moment to understand how that’s going to work.

Thanks guys. Going to go and have a word with Daddy now.

Sis x

Unka Glen: Seize your chance at greatness

and give God all the glory =)

unkaglen:

What do you want them to write on your tombstone? “Here lies someone who followed all the rules and was responsible and made good grades and never offended anyone”. Believe me, in that case, they won’t bother writing anything at all. If you know how you want to be remembered, even if it’s just a…

Pastor Jason Kim - singleness and dating and marriage

d-o-t:

Good, foundational sermon on dating and singleness.

“Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
2 Timothy 2:22

Pastor Jason addresses that age-old question: how far is too far? He says that if we’re asking that question, our priorities are wrong. We shouldn’t be asking “how far is too far” but “how holy can I be”? It hit me that that’s where we’ve not really been getting through to the kids. I remember talking to Alan on the last day of retreat; he was giving me a run-down on his workshop and I was giving him a run-down on mine. Until now I never realised we addressed very similar questions in our workshops, and the kids didn’t seem to quite understand. We were telling them it’s not “how far is too far?” or “how short is too short?” but “where is your heart”? What are your motives? At what point are you on the exit to the highway?

While none of that is wrong, I think maybe we would have gotten to them better or explained it more clearly if we just asked them “What are your priorities in asking that question?” Good food for thought.

Jason also talks about the differences between pursuing marriage and pursuing love (agape). Are your emotions under self-control? Are you willing to solve problems before marriage? Are you finding the right person or being the right person?

“Agape love. Thinking of what’s best for the other person. Praying that God will bring the right person to his or her life, even if that person is not you.”
- Pastor Jason

Cool story bro.

I mean, I thank God so much that you’re in my life sis’s and bros  =D

Will keep striving to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and to desire Him. And then to love everyone else almost just as hard =)

The Squeezings of my Brain Grapes.: What Do You Do When You Wonder If You’ll Ever Get Married?

jedbrewer:

destinationunknownstar asked you:
Before you got married did you feel like it was never gonna happen? See I am 22 years old and have never had a relationship before, yet it is my greatest desire to be married and have children, in the future of course. And the thing is I know what kind of…

patiently waiting for that godly woman God has planned for me =)

And looking forward to having lots of great fellowship, sex and babies =D

the little world of little vince: Letter to Future Vince #1

little-vince:

Dear Vince,

Today you missed out on seeing SNSD live. SNSD’s next concert sold out in minutes and that’s in Singapore.
There was a concert that is happening 3 hours away and the tickets never sold out.

What if this opportunity never arises again? This was a once in a lifetime opportunity!!…

Dear Lil V, That’s great encouragement right there!

< Check out his post ppl!! [click above or here] >

Thank you God for all good things including brothers and sisters (and mums/uncles/aunties) who encourage us, build us up and spur us on to love and good deeds. =)

Unka Glen's Citadel of Enlightenment: Jed Brewer reblog: How Do I Know If It's God's Will, Or Just My Desires?

unkaglen:

loca-laina asked you:

How does someone decipher the line between REALLY wanting something, and knowing that it’s actually God’s plan for you? There are so many instances in life right now where I feel so strongly that I’m ‘supposed’ to do this or that, but my family and friends believe that…

reblog of unka glen’s reblog of jed brewer. haha.

Really great bible verses too which show why leaving our dreams and desires in God’s hands is infinitely better than grasping onto them and making a mess of them.

(Source: jedbrewer)