Bill Monday Afternoon

Proverbs 13:21

We stay encouraged by focusing on what God is doing, not on what

He seems to not be doing. We are to “feed on His faithfulness.”
(Psalm 37:3)

We tend to build theology around exceptions.

We have to stop confusing our destiny with our assignment. My

destiny is heaven, but my assignment is to bring heaven to earth.

John the Baptist was not feeding on God’s faithfulness in prison.

Jesus answered him in Matthew 11:4-5

Bill refuses to feed his soul on anything that competes with the truth
that God is good.

A loss has to be a seed in the ground that yields divine fruit that
brings divine restitution (justice) for the loss.

The blood of Jesus not only forgives me, but it cleanses me from all
unrighteousness (I John 1:9). This cleansing eliminates the cycles of
sin and the reaping of the fruit of sin.

Faith is manifested in a culture where we trust people before they

deserve it.

I got saved when I believed in Jesus. I get transformed when I know

Jesus believes in me.

Anxiety, fear and worry kill creativity.

We cannot say every person is a minister until we say every

occupation is a ministry.

You have permission to exaggerate God’s goodness.

Apostleship is more focused from heaven toward earth than the

pastoral ministry that tends to be more people focused. Pastors tend
to want to make their people healthy and happy. Apostleship is more
interested in sending people into the world to change the world. Every
pastorate needs an apostolic covering so that the church will not
become ingrown.

Danny Silk
Tuesday AM
Message Title: Sin Does Not Need to be Punished

That which we love, we tend to try to control.

2 Timothy 1:6 – when we are afraid of other people’s mistakes, we

tend to get fearful and controlling. It is a common tendency for
leaders to cooperate with the schemes of the devil in dealing with
people who have made mistakes.

In the presence of sin, the Pharisees are afraid. When Jesus is in the
presence of sin, He is the solution.

When we are in the presence of sin, leaders try to control the sin and
the sinner. We often believe that those who sin need to be punished.
We though need a response to sin that requires no punishment. Fear
is the anticipation of punishment. I John 4:18 18There is no fear in
love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has
to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made
perfect in love.

1 John 2:1-2 - 1My dear children, I write this to you so

that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have
one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus
Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice
for our sins, and not only for ours but also for[a] the sins
of the whole world. Jesus’ death on the cross satisfied
the need for God to punish man.

Jesus removed the need for punishment in our

relationship with God.
Galatians 5:1 - 1It is for freedom that Christ has set us
free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be
burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Life under the law requires us to live protecting our

relationships with the law.

Life in the Spirit requires us to learn to live free,

protecting our relationship with Spirit.

Rom 8:2 – For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
has set you free from the law of sin and death.

We have been delivered from a life of protecting the

rules.

John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My

commandments.” Most people seem to believe that
this means that we will allow God to control us. This
verse really means that your love will show up in how
you treat the matters that are important to God. If you
love me, you will protect my heart connection. If we
don’t know how to cultivate intimacy in relationships
with people, then how can we say we have intimacy
with God? If we don’t have intimacy in relationship
with God, it will show up in the lack of intimacy with
people.

Our barometer for our own attitude is what happens

when someone breaks the rules around me. When
other people’s sin makes me scared, then that is
evidence of how important the rules are to me.

Protecting the rules is what creates a religious culture.

Protecting the relationship is how we create love.
When people break the rules, it is offensive to human
nature.

Sin is Offensive:
 Prison are full of offenders
 The world is offended by sin
 We love to judge offenders

We have to be aware of how natural it is to be

offended. “I will withhold my love from you when you
have failed.” When we withhold love, anxiety fills the
void. When we are afraid, we want control.

People to think about (they all broke the rules) . . .

 King David (2 Sam 11)
 Abigail (1 Sam 25)
 Peter (Mark 14:69-72)
 Woman Caught in Adultery (John 8:4-11)

What is the difference between these?

 David (spent seven days on the ground) and Saul
(he tried to repent to Samuel for breaking the
rules)
 Peter and Judas

The difference is repentance. Repentance will not work

in an environment where we are protecting the rules.
When we focus on rules rather than relationship, then
we cannot have real repentance.

Repentance is a gift (an opportunity)

Repentance is required
Repentance leads to restoration
1 John 4:10-11:
10
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved
us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for[a] our
sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also
ought to love one another.

Danny spoke of the time he got a nail in his foot.

Danny did not say, “I am now a nail.”

Here is a big question that we need to ask: What are

you going to do to protect our relationship?

Here is a truth about many ministries and church

leadership teams: Unless you develop high levels of
hypocrisy, you cannot be a leader in this environment.

Protecting the “Us” is the key to relationships. If you

love me, you will protect our relationship.

Bill Johnson
Tuesday Night

Gifts are free but maturity is expensive.

Inheritance is when you get something for free that

others had to work for. We are called to be more like
brokers of His kingdom, rather than being beggars.
John 7 37
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood
and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to
me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as[c] the Scripture
has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."
39
By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in
him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not
been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
How many times do I need to be cleansed in order to
be a “cleanser”? How many drinks do I need before I
become a river? Once we have been given an
experience in God, we have the key to that experience
for the rest of our lives. Sometimes we beg God to give
us what we already have. The nature of who we are in
Christ changes with every new divine encounter.

That which we get in small portions can be given in

huge quantities to the masses. We take a drink and
then a river flows through us.

Ps 84 – we are asking for a fresh outpouring and God is

asking us what we are doing with the water we already
have. When I steward the water I have been given
(even if it is tears), I am turning a loss into gain and
attracting an outpouring. We too often ask for what we
already have.

Faith releases the divine capacity of the life that is

already in us.

At some point I have to find out if I got it. I need to put

myself at risk.

ISAIAH 60 1 "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and

the glory of the LORD rises upon you. 2 See, darkness
covers the earth and thick darkness is over the
peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his
glory appears over you. – you are arise and shine and
your shining will attract the glory of God. What does it
mean to shine? It is not complicated. It is the divinely
given capacity to show favor. We have been given the
responsibility to broker divine favor. Read Ephesians
4:29 - 29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of
your mouths, but only what is helpful for building
others up according to their needs, that it may benefit
(impart grace) those who listen. In other words, we
shine by releasing grace and favor wherever we go.

The Holy Spirit lives in us and He wants out. He came

to us as a river, not as a lake.

Often we live by principles instead of presence.

Prayer is to have divine encounters so I can release

divine encounters to others by faith and declaration.

In the measure I am experiencing the dominion of God

in my life, then that is the measure I can release
dominion in my world.

The children of Israel wandered for forty years because

they first wandered in their heart.

Jesus illustrated not what God could do but what a man

could do surrendered to God. What could God do? Heal
everyone at once. What could Jesus do? Heal one at a
time.

We have authority over any storm we can sleep in.

Most seem to have the concept that their job is to pray

and God’s job is to do something. This would appear to
be illustrated in the following scripture, but Jesus’
response shows that the disciples did not understand
God’s highest will in prayer.

Luke 8
22
One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to
the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and
set out. 23As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came
down on the lake, so that the boat was being
swamped, and they were in great danger.

The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master,

24

Master, we're going to drown!"

He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging

waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25"Where
is your faith?" he asked his disciples.

Jesus rebuked the disciples even though their prayer

was answered. He expected them to use their own
authority and not ask Him to do what He had already
empowered them to do.

Reality is what we use to dash people’s dreams.

Jonathon and his armor bearer did what was

Dreamers:
 They are people who do stuff, do stuff.

Many great people are not impacting the kingdom

because they are not doing anything.