Refreshment & Reconciliation

Blog Discussion: Minisitry of Reconciliation (2 Cor.) & Times of Refreshing

Greetings fellow bloggers and Friends! (Please note: my blogs tend to turn out like 'improv' jazz pieces--laid out in a sort of 'stream of consciousness' Joycean manner, and as a result, may not always have a logical Socratic process--but come off more like a 'right-brained' artist-painting-in-his-studio style--eliciting observers' reactions like, "Why is he covering the canvas with black and green paint--isn't he supposed to be painting a 'still life' of the flowers there in his garden..?" When later published in book form--I 'hopes' it'll all be 'digitalized'--whatever! (I love words. When I tried to use a big word with my Dad's Eastern kentucky brothers, my Appalachian uncles would frown, put their heads in their hands, point at me, and moan, "...He read a book..."...with the kind of facial expressions folks wear while attending a funeral service...)

TIMES OF REFRESHING
by P.C.B.

I'm having a time of devotion to the Lord as I write this--listening to Christ Church Choir on my iTunes--hope you can get this CD soon--entitled: "He Has Been Good.".

'DRAW NEAR TO GOD...'. I'm thinking of the 'ministry of reconciliation' which is the theme of 2 Corinthians--a current study of mine--along with Jesus' ministry as told in the Gospels of Matthew,Mark, Luke, and John--as I listen to "There Is Healing In This House," "He has Been Good to Me," "The Word Is Mercy," "Touching Jesus," "He Forgives and Forgets," "I Will Trust In You," by Christ Church (Nashville) Choir.

(Christ Church Choir models the kind of 'ministering music' an anointed church choir can present--to the Lord's glory-to the edification and comfort of people--and witness to and exaltation of Christ Jesus.)

THE PRAYER CLOSET. I'm in a time of celebration in praise, worship, thankfulness, and profound appreciation to Jesus, my Great Physician, today--as I am receiving my Heavenly Father God's ministry to me by the Holy Spirit. I sense His divine healing touch today--and, beyond physical healing, a profound communion in the Spirit--God's gift of hope and encouragement--that His ministry through me will go forward in the empowerment of the Holy Spirit--that He will never leave me or forsake me--that He is there, not silent--that our loving Father God does hear and answer prayer ("And you shall seek Me and you shall find Me--when you shall search for Me with all your heart...and I shall be found of you." (Jeremiah 29:13).

"We overcome by our testimony, and by the blood of the Lamb."

"Epignosis:" ('knowledge-upon-knowledge')...the experiential and revelational knowledge of God--is not capricious subjectivism, emotionalism, or just religious feel-goodism in the psychological sense--although I've often enjoyed that too..!

IT IS THE RELATIONSHIP THAT HEALS. I've always recogized God's Holy Presnece in Christ, the ministry of the Holy Spirit--when I am filled with godly hope--when His peace reigns over my soul--and tears of thanksgiving, intimacy with God, His love, His joy, and worship of Him--flow freely--and when the meaning of biblical scripture opens up like a garden rose before my eyes, mind, and heart. When confirmation of the Lord's calling, His purpose (no--not 'purpose-drivenness'!), His guiding companionship, His surgical Truth in the Holy Spirit--becomes Central Government and Life Management.

(I know this is what we long for in large gatherings of corporate worship. And we always welcome that experience when possible.) But I am also reminded of the profound value of (individual-private)'closet-of-prayer' times.

THE HEALING TOUCH. When one desires to be taken out of 'wilderness deprivation' spiritually--lifted out of barrenness of soul--the parched desert of secularization, ennui, malaise, the crudenss and rudeness and crassness--of 'this present world's thinking, attitudes, mindset, despair, melancholia or anxiety--a 'closet-time' of intimate worship, listening, dialoge, sharing--and sometimes sobbing out one's 'groanings that cannot be uttered' and praying in the devotional language of the Spirit--is theTreatment of Choice--the only Cure--for (Psalm 23) restoration of the Soul--for the deliverance from fear that Solomon describes in Proverbs 34:1-4.

HEALING OF THE FAMILY TREE. But also--family, and small 'koinonia group' sharing of intimate confession, repentance, tears of contrition and tears of intimate love and spiritual restoration--healing, forgiveness, mercy, and fellowship in Christ--in the Spirit's efficiency and effectiveness--will do more in a few hours--than Humpty-Dumpty repairmen..!

(Not to speak of 'economy'--think of the millions--I understand--spent on mental health, counseling, social workers (whatever 'they' do--ha!) therapy, family therapy, CD recovery meetings, psycho-analysis, psychiatry, clinical psychology--all the 'wallet-padding' of so-called 'professionals'!)

A family time of experiencing God's loving, healing presence in Christ--of being in 'the upper room' together--baptized in the Holy Spirit--crying in reconciliation with each other and God--sharing loving hugs--is essentially--the only Solution for Individuation and Personal Adjustment--and relational reconciliation and social harmony.

SACRED VS. SECULAR SOLUTIONS. Most (if not all) of the 'marital and family therapy' conundrums, dillemmas, hostility, grievance-collecting, abusive histories, feuds, conflicts, emtional woundedness, alienations, hostility, addictions, rejections, emotional-abandonments, selfishness, love-withdrawals, vendettas--I have tried to work with for thirty years as a counselor--would be--would have been--healed--if couples and families had had the courage and faith--to practice the above-mentioned 'times of refreshing'--intimacy in His Presence-- and His hopefulness--to obey the Holy Spirit--and practicetouching Jesus--as did Blind Bartemaeus, the woman with an issue of blood, the Ten Lepers, the man at the Bethesda Pool, Peter, James, John and His Disciples..!

GOSPEL SONGS: THE ROMANCE. The community of the redeemed's great gospel songs dealing with healing of shame, guilt, sin, alienation, loneliness, forgiveness---great (Traditional and Urban) Gospel, 'testimonial songs' like, "Friendship With Jesus," Touching Jesus," "He Knows Just how Much You Can Bear," "My Savior's Love," "The Love of God," "He Forgives and Forgets," "God Leads His Der Children Along," have, in the so-called 'postmodern church' been marginalzied and pushed aside by the (especdially White male-rocker-alternate-grunge) praise bands and the all-too-commercial 'praise music industry'' (and what an industry it is--hopefully much of it still not a 'worship of the commercial golden calf'...!).

CULTURE OF NARCISSISM. Is this because this is a generation too often unable to 'abstract', appreciate the profound, or rejoice in sincere love and profound thankfulness to the Lord God for what He has done? A Culture of Narcissism has no heart for sensitivity to the Holy Spirit--thus loses the benefits of the Spirit's freedom from fear and His gifts of "...power, love, and soundness of mind."(2 Timothy 1:7). The christianized and religious parts of American culture (sadly) behave like the nine-out-of-ten lepers--who went on their way healed--yet self-absorbed and thankless.

PNEUMATOLOGY. There is little Pneumatological Experience--few are baptised in the Holy Spirit--few seem to experience God's healing touch in Christ. Do few know God, His Works, or His Presence (cf. Joshua and Judges)...? It seems to be the case.

TESTIMONY. Testimonial Songs may be considered maudlin and sentimental--not 'reformation theology'--not masculine enough--too 'pentecoostal'--too'charismatic'. But the art of the testimonial song is the story of The Great Romance between man and God--which continues in great poetry, ballet, great drama, great musical compositions, great novels, and fine art.

{War on three fronts: A Personality War; A Cultural War; A Spiritual War--will be discussed in future blogs.}

IS GOOD TASTE POLITICALLY INCORRECT? Isn't this devotional desert in contemporary Christianity which we address here--part of 'culture war' phenomena--in the same sense that the beauty and gravitas of fine art, great clasical compositions or brilliant jazz arrangements and improvisations are sniffed at, ignored--or even maligned--by brutes, blue collars, blunt-minded jocks, carnies, and art-despising rednecks...? Is not philistinism always lurking in the shadows behind theCity of God from the beginnings of Redemptive History..?

GENERATIONISM. Can this just be a 'generational' phenomenon? For example, 'young people' study classical music, ballet, immerse themselves as art students in studies at the Rjik, Van Gogh, Louvre and The Prado Art Museums, major in medicine--become nan-technologists--or go to Aspen for intensive 'clinic-festivals'.

Is this perhaps a 'culture war' perhaps already lost in a 'cultural coup'--and thus no longer even a'war'.

Have too many young people today been thought-reformed by Pop Culture..?

MYTHOLOGY? Is it a postmodern religious myth that 'the youth need their own music' or that, say today's 18-22 year-olds, function in monolithic soldarity regarding artistry, interests, and quality of taste? Is this just an urban cultural myth--that simply must be debunked--despite the attempts of the Emergent Church, religious collectivism, or the propaganda of Group Think would have us believe?Is 'cultural relativism' actually just another socio-anthropological myth..?

ARE THERE 'ESTHETIC' ABSOLUTES? Can we pronounce that just as sin is sin--from the beginning--even though we now can put in on Power Point--so quality is also quality--and beauty, profundity, and the Sacred--have been so from the Beginning--honoring and reflecting the nature of God...?

I.E.: ARE THERE STANDARDS? May we postulate that any trend, fad, or 'tribal/cultural attempt' at music--which is harmony and melody-(even rhythmically) and conceptually impaired--will simultaneously show itself to be Pneumatologically-challenged--impoverished in ministerial appropriateness, relevance--lacking the Anointing of the Holy Spirit--even though not overtly 'religious' in nature...?

BEAUTY, TRUTH, TASTE, QUALITY, PROFUNDITY--AND THE SACRED. In other words--may we enjoy giftedness, by outstanding artists in any genre--the mandolin and guitar impressario, J.S. Bach at the organ, Art Tatum, George Shearing, Rachmaninoff--at the Piano, Horowitx, Heifitz--in the concert hall, Rembrandt, Michelanglelo, or Rodin--in his studio, the gifted raconteur, the gifted stage actor, a T.S. Eliot, poet, a novelist like Victor Hugo or Flaubert--as being anointed by the Holy Spirit..?

(Excerpt: Unpublished MSS)
"Times of Refreshing: The Holy Spirit VS. Pop Culture"
Copyrght 2008 by Philip C. Brewer
All Rights Reserved