It's me, mike hillebrecht

You’re a believer. But of what? Are you a believer of the truth which will set you free? Probably not. Sure, you like to think you are (often just to be able to fit in to the crowd you hang with) but deep down inside you doubt…everything.

If you have followed me for any length of time, you know that I am a “grace” guy. My hope is that you will be able to come into the revelation of the grace with which each of us have been empowered with. However, I recognize how this revelation will only manifest as each of us accept the truth which is God. I also recognize how as a New Testament believer, our default understanding of God is encompassed in the standard, “God is love,” which is a lofty claim that hardly any of us can understand!

There are three tenets which have stood the vicissitudes of time which pertain to the nature and character of God. First, God is omnipresent; second, God is omnipotent; third, God is omniscient. Scripture validates each of these claims regardless of our doubts to the contrary. God is always present; all powerful; and all knowing. If “God is love” it is only because these three tenets survive as being immoveable.

So, the question to you is simple: When did God stop being for you who He has always been and will forever be?

The Kingdom

Jesus made a claim which, regrettably, today we simply have no clue what he was speaking about. He stated how the kingdom of God was not here nor there according to the whims of man’s sight, but actually resides hidden within each of us. It’s easy to parrot this truth, yet harder to live it. Why? Doubt.

The first tenet about God is that He is always present. A kingdom, any kingdom, only exists when and where the king resides. The kingdom moves as the king moves.

One of the most characteristic features of western religion is that “God” is up there, out there, somewhere and it is the duty of a believer to “call God down.” This is depicted in the notion that some act has separated man from God and our entire expanse of life is an attempt to get back into the presence which departed from humanity.

If Jesus was bold enough to claim how the kingdom of God was within us, when did people begin to believe that the kingdom had moved? Consider your own belief about this matter. Does your understanding about an omnipresent God reflect a being who is “apart” from you or “a part” of you? Do you also restrict this viewpoint to just you or the entirety of the world? Are you unable to see “One” as a multitude simply because one in a multitude seems so lost?

Have you ever considered how your ability to see restricts your spiritual development? The kingdom of God is spiritual, not material. You can’t see it with your eyes, you sense it with your heart. The day God stopped being occurred when you went “looking” for Him. Since He is always present, everywhere and within all, to “look” for Him and not “see” from this truth is to doubt. This is probably why grace is so vital for us. It keeps us sustained in our kingdom development while we learn to walk by faith and not by sight.

The wise men of old announced that there would come a day when a child would be born who would be named Emmanuel, which they say means, “God is with us.” I’m not trying to be sacrilegious but if God is always present, doesn’t this child simply affirm truth by its name rather than establish a whole new truth by its appearance? Would this not apply, too, for every child who came from the same ancestorial line before and after this child regardless of their name? Have we become so conditioned in seeing “Mark”, “Fred”, “Betty”, “Anne”, or whatever the name is, as an independently named and functioning “being” rather than the truth of being Emmanuel?

Across the pantheon of western religion, the masses have joyously proclaimed and affirmed how God is, “all in all.” Rather than get all wrapped up in a lesson of semantics, let’s take a pause, and placing it where it belongs, let’s agree with truth: God is all, in all. Even the blind believes this. Can you?

Let’s face it – life these days, (I’ll be gentile in this even though we all have stronger expressions which better portray the issue) is pretty messed up. No matter where you look, the Church is cowering in a dank corner faced with the limp wristed expression of freedom granted but better not articulated. Many people who sought guidance from this hollowed, oops, hallowed, institution have been set adrift wondering where there is a mooring they can secure themselves to. In a word, life is tumultuous.

Unfortunately, if life is tumultuous, prayer, in most cases, is too. This probably doesn’t see possible, right? Afterall, when times get tough, people pray and their prayers are answered, right? This seem to be the custom. However, most customs, like deciding to put your pants on with the right leg first are only a human preference rather than a spiritual truth.

For a moment I need you to suspend everything you have been told about how prayer is supposed to be conducted. I recognize how this, for many of you, will be difficult to practically impossible, simply because you have been so indoctrinated into the formula of godly, effective prayer that to do anything of which I am about to suggest is…is…”heretical.” For all the toxic weight this term historically carries and implies, I trust that you can simply understand how it means to be different from the promoted doctrine of an order. If something isn’t working, it is “heretical” in religious terms, to change to something that might work.

Consider the following: For the past 6,000, of more years, mankind has been praying to a deity to protect, defend, rescue, prosper, heal, or any of a number of other concerns or demands which would promote the well-being of the person or group above the rest of those around them. Collectively, it might be determined through rigorous analysis how all this prayer activity did not produce the intended results each person or group expected or demanded. Who has time to look into that anyway? There really aren’t any records of the prayers which these people made that we could follow up on, right?

So, let’s take your prayers. They’re fresh in your memory, or at least in that journal you keep next your bed at night. How many of your prayers ask for God to come down (from who knows where) and invade your circumstance with His presence? How many of your prayers seek for the power of God to obliterate the foe which has risen against you? How many of your prayers have asked for the power of God to flow through you so that you may impact your milieu, your community, your nation, the world? How many of your prayers have been simply to inform God of what you have determine to be the unrighteous acts of those against you, of the things other have done to harm you, of the hurt you have experienced living a righteous life?

Buckle up buttercup, for while each of these might seem like worthy prayers, they are ineffectual. Be honest with yourself, in the tumult, how many of these prayers were answered – even like you wanted? Sure, you were fervent every time you prayed these things, but they never… The tragedy is how no one every told you why they never…until now.

The most foundational teachings of God’s nature are how he is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. Regrettably, these facets of his being are demoted rather than hailed as effectual in our lives simply because life is pressing too hard against our ability to comprehend quickly the fullness of truth we should be living in.

Have you recently, or ever considered, the nature of God’s omnipresence? Why would you ask Him to come down or show up if you understood the basic fact that He never has left? God is always around. He is unable to leave you: your situation, your drama, your pain, your nation, your political issue, your indifference, your inconsideration, your thanklessness, your pity, your scorn, your hopelessness; your guilt and shame; your hard-heartedness and lack of compassion; He is there through it all. The mess you’re going through right now, God is there closer than your breath.

Since God is always present (omnipresent), everywhere at all times, how could you possibly believe that He doesn’t know what is happening every moment in every situation (omniscience)? What compels you to be the informant to God; to tell him the things that only you have private knowledge of? Yes, you fervently pray, but telling God what you believe to be righteous through your fervency, will never change what HE already knows. While you know you, God knows you…and ALL around you too.

So, this brings you to the final key. Is there anything more powerful than God? Is God all powerful? Is sickness and disease more powerful than God? Is poverty and hunger more powerful than God? Are the acts of a carnal mind more powerful than God? Are the evil actions of mankind greater than the power of God? Seriously, stop and answer these questions. Your thoughts of a small god bring with it the thoughts of a power which can be defeated. Just how small is your god compared to the power coming against you?

IF you have made it this far, I am encouraged. Much of what I have presented in this piece takes a serious amount of time to meditate through deliberate contemplation about these truths. Affiliations, dogmas and creeds will be of no avail here. Herein lays your private spiritual journey: What constitutes an effectual prayer before a God who is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent? Until this is resolved, all prayer will be tumultuous in its affect.

Recently in a study group where we have been reading the book The Art of Living by Thich Nhat Hahn, a renown Buddhist monk, he made a distinction between the Christian and Buddhist faiths which I found quite enlightening. According to Hahn, Buddhists do not believe in original sin as the Christians do; they believe in original fear. At first glance this might seem strange to Christians, however, it makes perfect sense when you place it within the mission of Jesus, the Christ, and what he proclaims throughout his ministry.

To be clear, the doctrine of original sin in a nutshell is that the first man, Adam, ate of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, an act which violated the commandment of God. Subsequently, all mankind has been captured in the result of this sin and Jesus is the sole redeemer of humanity who gave his life to rescue us from the pit of hell by adhering to the commandment of God as our second Adam. His death on the cross is the sin offering and final payment for our actions giving him lordship over all humanity. I recognize that there might be nuances within this description which I have not included that you are more than welcome to include, but I’m not trying to write a theological dissertation here, merely offer a sketch which the vast Christian movement has adopted in one form or another.

What then is the original fear which Hahn refers to? Simply put…dying. Here is how he describes it:

“Every desire has its root in our original, fundamental desire to survive. In Buddhism we don’t speak of original sin. We speak of that original fear and desire that manifested in us during our birth and in the precarious moment we took our first, painful breath. Our mother could no longer breath for us. It was difficult to inhale; we had to expel water from our lungs. But if we couldn’t breath on our own, we would die. We made it; we were born. And with that birth, our fear of dying was born along with the desire to survive. And as infants, that fear stayed with us. We knew that in order to survive, we had to get someone to take care of us…”

At the beginning of World War 2, as Nazi forces conducted their blitzkrieg of England, and London in particular, Sir Winston Churchill spoke to his nation and encouraged them with, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” They were fighting for their survival from an invading force and the fear of death from the falling bombs, the fires, or collapsing buildings was the common denominator all shared. At no point were they concerned about any sin they may be harboring and not confessed. Death was their fear.

Consider this for a moment. When God commanded the man not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, what was God’s reasoning behind it?

Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest of it thou shalt surely die.

How does an eternal being, God, declare death to another eternal being, Adam? Is it possible that a change in consciousness is simply the answer? And what was the response from the man to God about why he was hiding?

Gen 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden: and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Can a God-consciousness, an eternal, everlasting, life affirming consciousness be thwarted simply by the duality of a consciousness devoted to judging sin or sinlessness? How does the vulnerability of nakedness strip us of our conscious awareness of the eternal nature we have always possessed?

I have written about this previously, but Jesus did not come to take our sins away. He clearly stated, “…I have come that they may have life and that life more abundantly.” Before you think that he came to abolish the Law, recognize that he clearly stated that he came to fulfill the Law, and His death on the cross was, and is the fulfillment of this as our Passover lamb – not our scapegoat.

Almost every Christian believes that the death on the cross is somehow associated with sin, the knowledge of good and evil. Jesus was good, the Romans were evil. Jesus’ cry, “…forgive them Father for they know not what they do,” is as valid today as when it was uttered not because we crucify him by our actions, but because we don’t understand what he represents to our God-consciousness. The Passover lamb, as you will recall, was slain so that its blood would mark the doorpost and lintels to the homes of the children of Israel when the death angel swooped down through Egypt killing the first born in all the land the night before Israel’s release from captivity.

The single most offered command by God throughout the entire bible is “Fear not!” Yet, we gloss over such an injunction simply because we…we…what? Live fearlessly? Hardly. Today, the entire world is cowering in fear, the fear of death from a pathogen! We are reminded frequently throughout the day that we are agents of death if we don’t practice “social distancing” and wear a face diaper. Statistics about new cases and daily deaths from this “disease” only amplify the fear of dying. It matters not that 99% of those who contract the virus survive, it is the magnification of the 1%, mostly old, with compromised health conditions, who drive our fear.

Being young is good, being old is evil. The sin of age is dying so let’s stay young forever. Let us fear the transformation which comes with age and hide its effects with cosmetics, injections, and surgeries. Let us fear the loss of mobility, awareness and sensation. Let us fear that after a life of being independent we are forced to have others care for us, again, just like when we were a child. Let us fear the last moments of breathing this life, a life we have lived fearful of not being able to breath instead of abundantly breathing through the life given us to love those around us.

Is it possible the nature of original sin and original fear are simply two sides to the same coin, and no matter how the coin lands, there are no winners or losers, just God, eternal with all of us?

It’s crunch time. All the things you have been attempting to deal with in your hectic life are beginning to over shadow you and decisions which need to be made are simply falling to the wayside as one interruption after another divides your already over-taxed attention. Frustrated, anxious, and weary you fall back into a mode of seclusion trying to find a remedy, a fix, the resolve to go on.

In a moment of zombie abandonment, you flip through the mind-numbing channels on your television, not seek anything to watch but more an opportunity to tune out. And then with a flip, you hear it: “Let us pray.”

Hold on there pardner! Don’t for a moment think that this entire piece is about how to pray. This is actually a piece about why your prayers aren’t working now, haven’t in the past, and with great certainty, if you continue down the same path, won’t work in the future.

Yes, this is a brave claim that none our your clergy folks are going to present to you for one simple reason: They are having the same issue, but they can’t tell you this because it will tip the balance of power away from them.

Let’s step back for a moment and look back on events which have transpired throughout your lifetime. These global events have been met with prayers from all sides. But fires have raged on, hurricanes have howled, blizzards have stopped us in our tracks, while floods have wiped away all tracks and traces of our presence. But let’s look at some of the biggies which have been happening since man began walking upon the earth. Consider the following passage from the book of James.

Jas 4:1-3 What causes wars and contentions among you? Is it not the cravings which are ever at war within you for various pleasures? (2) You covet things and yet cannot get them; you commit murder; you have passionate desires and yet cannot gain your end; you begin to fight and make war. You have not, because you do not pray; (3) or you pray and yet do not receive, because you pray wrongly, your object being to waste what you get on some pleasure or another.

Now I’ll admit that I don’t like to quote passages out of the book of James because being a grace guy, James is written to an audience which is more law-centric than grace savvy. However, this passage is on point for all that it covers. At first glance, the most glaring issue is that we think that our prayers are designed to satisfy our cravings or desire for things. God is not Santa Claus. God is not your servant, waiting at your beck and call to do your bidding. I know some of you will find this hard to swallow, but you cannot influence God to do something for you today that He has never done in the past for you – even if you end your prayers, “…in Jesus name.”

(Heb 13:8) Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

Here is the rub: We have no clue what it means to be someone whose character never changes. We look at our short life span and can pick out changes in our nature and our character as we advance toward maturity. There are not many of us who can claim how we were the same person in our twenties, with the same values and ideals we possessed as we do in our retiring years. So, when we are confronted with this next passage, we wince.

(Mal 3:6) For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Notice how the Lord makes reference to the sons of Jacob, not the sons of Israel. Let me put this matter in context by rephrasing it in terms which maybe you can identify with. “I am the Lord, I change not; therefore you breed of liars, thieves, impostors, and conniving scoundrels are not consumed.” Pretty accurate description of our issues. Thank God we don’t get what we deserve!

In our brash immaturity, defined by a life which spans 60 to 80 years, we miserably fail in understanding the eternal nature of God. In doing so we think that we are the only ones who are going through this stuff and there have been none other who can possibly understand our predicament.

Isa 46:9-10 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, (10) Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Look, I have been involved in prayer for decades. Intercessory groups, prayer chains, closet God-talkers. However, things have changed in my prayers. I can assure you how you pray, and I pray are at two extremes of what most would call prayer. I have been where you are, pressing in, calling down heaven, storming the gates. Yet, one day it all changed and has been evolving ever since. Let me offer this, not as a story, but as an example of what you have to look forward to.

I was in an intercessory group a number of years ago and like today, it was an election cycle. We had assembled with the intent of proclaiming God’s will for the “chosen” righteous candidate and the opening of the eyes for the public who had been seduced by the enemy through his lies. We tarried, we pressed in, we groaned, we repented with weeping and wailing, we declared the word of God garbed in the armor of God, pleaded the blood of Jesus…you know, the whole arsenal of prayer.

There came a moment maybe two hours into the session when the entire group was fervently in prayer, praying in tongues (yes, we were charismatic) decreeing the Word as it came to us, striking down and binding the powers and principalities. I was lying face down on the carpet, tongues gushing from the well within me, when I heard deep within me a very calming voice say, “Stop this. You don’t know what you are doing.”

The intensity of the moment, the angst and drama which accompanied it, suddenly evaporated and a cloak of peace enveloped me while my fellow intercessors pressed on in their high calling. I lay there for what seemed like hours in this peaceful embrace, quiet, yet listening to the utterances coming from my compatriots. Something inside me had changed and it affected my entire prayer life then, and has held up to this day. This is the point where I bring in the verse which all prayer warriors rally.

Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

At this juncture I am going to make a claim that goes against what you have always been told regarding this verse (surprise!). “…groanings which cannot be uttered,” actually means, SHUT UP, STUPID!

Look, here is your issue: you don’t believe that God is omnipotent, all powerful, so you pray for more power; you don’t believe God is omniscient, all knowing, so you feel it is your responsibility to tell him things you believe he doesn’t know; you don’t believe that God is omnipresent, always present, so you call down heaven and the kingdom of God to invade your situation. Because of these three issues, you pray amiss and have not. Let me take it one step further, the god you are praying to is merely a grander, less corrupt version of yourself who you have made as an idol of for your glorious worship and heart-felt supplication. Before you turn aside from me for preaching truth, understand that I have been there and the road of good intentions is often a smooth mirage designed to hide the life-altering potholes which wait to deflate and impale you.`

So then what is prayer? When someone says, “Let us pray,” what are we to do?

(Psa 46:10) Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Life comes at you from all sides, top and bottom included. Being still is the last option, right? There are no means available to you to duck, dodge, or deflect what life throws at you. It is going to hit you in the private parts when you least expect it, and while you’re bent over gasping for air, it will do it again simply because you were exposed from the back side. Anything you are able to utter in prayer will be based on somewhere in time to an eternal God who knows what you are going through (omniscient); has promised He will never leave you or forsake you (omnipresent); and who has chosen to place His kingdom of grace and peace within you (omnipotent).

Prayer at these moments is not what you can say to an eternal, immortal God, but what He wants to say to you as the holy vessel for His kingdom on the earth. Prayer, all forms of it, comes down to this simple statement: Be still; God is still speaking.

On the first Wednesday of November of this year, vast multitudes of people will awaken from a dream and wonder what is happening. Dreams don’t only play out in the darkness of our bedroom, but also in the darkness of our mind.

In the movie The Matrix, there is a character named Morpheus. In the Greco-Roman tradition this is the son of the god Hypno, the god of sleep. Morpheus’ task is placing humans into your dreams. On this day in November, after everyone has digested the blue or red narcotic of politics, Morpheus will supplant the desires of some and appoint the desires of others. No matter how you look at it, winning will not be the harmonious event the world is seeking.

Let’s be honest. You’re waiting in anticipation to rub the nose of your opponent in the disgrace of their loss come November. You’ve longed to be proven right about the claims you and the media have made. Superiority is refreshing in a time when everything has been against your perspective. The masses have spoken, and you are now vindicated.

While you gloat in the pride of your triumph, where is the harmony of humanity? How are you breaking the bounds of discord that has infected our community for these past four years?
Face it: you do not have the capability to navigate this tumultuous time of personal upheaval simply because you believe your perspective is correct above those around you and those you have determined to listen to. (And yes, that also includes me.)

Some might suggest that you need to treat the opposition as you might want to be treated in such a situation. I am not a fan of the Golden Rule. Simply put, it is an archaic rule which the opposition doesn’t give a damn about. If you’ve won, the last thing you feel like doing is coddling a loser. If you’ve lost, the last thing you feel like doing is being the doormat of a winner. There is a higher principle which we ignore every moment of everyday. It is a balm and a salve in these irritating times.

“…My grace is sufficient for you.”

Where is the harmony of humanity in the cycle of winning and losing? How does a society of such immense diversity achieve accord if the only metric of success is winning at all costs? If peace, harmony and reconciliation are to be achieved with this generation, what are we not only willing to forego, but challenged to pursue at all costs to violently grasp the trophy of such a grand accomplishment?

“…My grace is sufficient for you.”

Let’s say that your candidate prevailed. How will you respond to those around you who were not so successful? How will you, on the first Wednesday of November, and every day thereafter, interact with those who see you as the enemy, the cause of their failure?

“…My grace is sufficient for you.”

Let’s say that the entire country goes crazy with riots and armed rebellion. If sowing and reaping (or karma) has been taken off the table as a negotiation tactic, how are you going to be able to confront the swarm of protesters who believe the system has minimized, or even overlooked, their position?

“…My grace is sufficient for you.”

The hangover of the morning after will be tumultuous at best. And yet, grace…

We have no clue as to the power grace plays within the pantomime of our political discovery. There are those who profess to have the answers but their fish-like nature surfaces when tackled with the truth of how they can’t control the actions of everyone all the time. They seem to favor “catch and release” as a means to demonstrate their struggle for power as if this is how grace functions. It’s not so long as you feel insufficient in all areas of life.

There are those who profess how this is the most significant moment in the struggle of our nation’s existence. I’m not prone to such hyperbole simply because each moment is fraught with struggles we either embrace or cast aside. Despite what you may believe, there are a multitude of people in this nation who simply do not have a care about the goings on you presently find yourself enveloped in.

There are a fortunate few who have encountered grace and are sufficient, unshackled from the manufactured drama being projected around them. They are not careless or mindless. Living in grace has made them care-free and mind-full. This is not living “the dream,” this is reality, unfiltered and unadulterated. They woke up a long time ago and contemplatively watch the herd plod through the muck and mire of a well-trodden circle of duplicity about the promise of greener pastures.

So on the morn of first Wednesday of November, will you shake off the fog of a dream encapsulated in the red or blue pill, shake off the caked on muck of your vices and admit the truth of your sufficiency through grace, or will you take yet one more lap around the pasture of discontentment guided by the hand from another manifestation by Morpheus? The choice, as always, rests within you.

Over the past week my family and I have had the opportunity to revisit a few movies set in the time of the Great Depression. “Sea Biscuit,” “The Natural,” and “Cinderella Man” are at their heart the classic story of the little guy overcoming great obstacles to capture the hearts and minds of the people. These types of stories used to be “stock and trade” in an industry which often provides more gore, murder, and horror these days.

I bring this up for the simple truth that each of these stories expresses within their genre: Hope.

As Bob Dylan is renowned for saying, “…These times they are a changing…” The societal upheaval we are all experiencing is affecting each of us deep down inside with a sense of helplessness. Loss of jobs and livelihoods, loss of community and home, loss of basic freedoms of expression are draining the life force out of everyone. Doom and gloom scenarios along with end-time apocalyptic theories are becoming the normal conversations for people who have become too focused on the mayhem thrust into our psyche by a manipulative media. Even within each of these movies the “manipulative media trope” is highlighted as part and parcel of the adversarial conglomerate.

Where is your hope for the helplessness swirling about you? This may be found in a deeper spiritual commitment for some, while others find it committing themselves to the betterment of those less fortunate around them. Some find it in stopping the propaganda of despair and re-calibrating their soul through creative arts. Some sing, some dance, some paint, some work in a garden, prune a rose bush or rake fallen leaves. Some read, while others journal their feelings and experiences. Others are led to tear down and rebuild. There are those who cook or bake. Whatever the expression, the goal is simply hope.

Hope is the ability to control and dictate our outcome against seemingly overwhelming obstacles which seem to tear us down. Even if we can’t seem to accomplish it ourselves, being inspired by the actions of another in their quest for hope can raise us up into a different perspective.

Doom and gloom are easy to find and focus upon. Too easy it seems. Difficult is the search for hope, the diamond in the rough, the pearl of great price. Our focus is so often on the past or the future that we hardly give thought to the present and the hope which surrounds us like a multitude of bubbles in a glass of sparkling water, here one moment and then gone the next only to be replaced by another seemingly out of nowhere.

This is important to retain. Hope does not vanish. It reappears over and over again, bubbling up from within us and around us. Its buoyancy elevates the conscious environment about it. Yes, hope is infectious, and no mask can disguise it or keep it contained. This the reason that the purveyors of disaster reporting don’t like it – hope is unpredictable.

So, in these times of duress, bring up a movie where the underdog overcomes. Marinate in the drama as it unfolds and allow its effervescent exhilaration of hope activate your own optimism in the possibilities all about you. Allow yourself to become hope-filled as a counter to your help-lessness. Your story is not complete until you decide it is.