The quotation marks in the title of this post highlight Lance's words in his most recent eNews.
Check it out: The title of this post is a fair characterization of what Lance tells is he is praying for and wants the rest of us to pray along with him.
In his most recent eNews, Lance talks at length about the Holy Spirit. He prays that the Spirit will "stir us up," that He will "agitate us."
And, biblically, Lance is on the right track.
In the Old and New Testaments, revival came about when the Spirit of God moved among the people of God and agitated them and stirred them up. He made them despise their sin and turn from their wicked ways to love and obey Him.
That's what Lance says he is praying for. It is what Lance wants all of us to pray for.
Lance's wish, certainly, is true to the Word.
Lance points out that there is no "magic bullet." There is no program that can redeem the CGGC. Lord knows that if programs were the answer, the CGGC would be on top of the denominational world.
Lance is correct.
The Spirit of the Lord is the One on Whom we must rely. It is He alone who is our hope and our salvation.
What Lance is not entirely clear about is how he believes the Holy Spirit stirs up and agitates God's people.
Having read his email over a few times, it seems to me that Lance may believe that the Spirit stirs up and agitates through a mystical process in which He moves in the hearts of people. Lance quotes John 3:5-8, "...the wind blows where it pleases..."
The Holy Spirit certainly could do that but, read your Bible, that's not the way the Spirit of the Lord has normally moved to call God's people back to Him.
The Spirit of the Lord normally empowered people to live differently than others and to speak truth in a startling and, usually, confrontational way to stir up, and to agitate. Among many others:
Nathan
Elijah
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Malachi.
Prophets.
How did the ministry of Jesus begin?
With the ministry of a forerunner, the prophet John the Baptist.
And, no matter what else you can say about these people the prophets, they served the role that Lance now sees as essential to the future of the CGGC. They stirred up. They agitated. In fact, more than anything else, they stirred up and agitated.
And, when people among the people of God embraced what the prophets said and did, they experienced the godly sorrow that produces the repentance that leads to salvation. And...
...the Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing blessed.
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Think about recent CGGC history for a moment.
If you read this blog, you know that CGGC leaders now think what I thought long before they did.
The ERC 2015 Strategic Plan is a tragic bust.
I proclaimed it to be a debacle before the Conference in session unanimously adopted it!
The unsettledness, restlessness, fearfulness, discontent Lance now asserts are blessings, and first step toward "true" "repentance?"
Thank the Lord that Lance is saying that now, in 2017.
But, gang!
I was becoming blue in the face, begging for godly sorrow in the CGGC when I was posting on Brian Miller's blog and, then, on walt's forum.
And, I was being confrontational. I was agitating. I was do what I could to stir up the people of the CGGC.
If anyone embraces what I do, it should be Lance.
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I may be too close to this, but the obvious truth to me is that, if the people of the CGGC had accepted my claim to speak for the Lord...
...the ridiculous and foolish 2015 ERC "only words on a page" Strategic Plan would not have wasted these years of ministry and extended ERC decline...
...these out-of-touch-with-reality YAY GOD videos from Dr. Richardson would not be happening...
...and Lance would have been BEGGING us to pray that the Holy Spirit would stir us up and agitate us...
...in his first eNews...
...two years ago!
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As mystically as the Lord may choose to stir us up and agitate us, He has normally chosen to call and empower prophets to confront His people, to describe to His people the error of their ways and to call them to repentance.
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It's actually hard for me to say this, but I believe that the people of the CGGC must acknowledge that the Lord has been speaking to them, stirring them up, AGITATING them, through me.
They need to heed me as an instrument through whom God is working among them.
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As many times as I have asked people why the ERC mountaintop challenged my credentials, the only, and unanimous, reply is that no charge was ever mentioned has but I have been disruptive.
I've been an agitator.
Bingo!
Their leadership fails.
The Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing is not blessing the things they say and do...
...and I am agitating.
I tell leadership that Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing will not bless.
He never blesses.
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I'll say one other thing that I see as a problem for the CGGC.
Those on the mountaintop, for years, have only granted to the Lord, the ability to work among them on their own terms.
They, for instance, are willing to allow the Lord to bless, "But, Lord, the hierarchy and the institution that supports it, are off the table."
In this case, Lance seems to be saying, "Lord, you may stir us up. Please agitate us, if you want. But, we'll accept agitation only if you move us mystically, in the depths of our hearts. Prophecy is off the table."
One essential regarding repentance is that repentance that is, to use Lance's word, TRUE, only happens when human submission and self-denial is absolute and God's way is accepted without reservation.
We must repent, truly repent.
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