The Spirit Man On the Cliffs of Mooney

GONE TRIBAL Pastor Steve Lummer
Part 2

“It is not good for the man to be alone.” Genesis 2:18

From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. Acts 17:26,27 (NIV)

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9,10

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. – Galatians 3:26-29

Our Tribal Origins –
Matthew 3:13 – Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?

Not sanitized by religion People who step out of bound
Color outside the lines
Ones who continue what John the Baptist started.

Our Tribal Instinct-
John 13:35 – By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
“I know how you feel “

“How many of you have been directly effected by cancer” – “how many of you have been betrayed?” – “How many of you have had a stack of bills and you did not how you were going to pay them?” – with each question he had us make eye contact with someone who had the same type of experience we had and trade cards with them. (Illustration credit – Rob Bell in Drops Like Stars)

Our Tribal Dialect –
1 Corinthians 1:10 – speak the same thing

Crash the future

A few years ago I took my kids to a wildlife animal park near Disney Land. As we rode on a tram through the open terrain, a guide pointed out the unique features of the different species that we encountered. I suppose I always knew it in part, but I had not come to realize how most groups of animals have unique names or designations when they dwell together.

With insects most of us know that bees are called swarms, and ants are called colonies. Among ocean life, I was aware that whales are pods, and fish are schools. Cattle are herds, birds are flocks, and if you watch Lion King, you know a tribe of lions is a pride. If you grew up in the country, you might know that crows are murders. Maybe the most unnerving one is an ambush of tigers.

I was surprised to learn that a group of buzzards waiting around together to feast on leftover carnage is called a committee. Just this one insight is worth the price of the whole book. This explains so much of what’s going on in churches—a lot of committees waiting around to live off human carnage.

Flamingos are called flamboyants, which for some reason reminds me of TV evangelists. And the less glamorous owls are known as parliaments. They do seem sort of British.

But my favorite of all is the group designation for rhinos. You see, rhinos can run thirty miles an hour, which is pretty fast when you consider how much weight they’re pulling. They’re actually faster than squirrels, which can run up to twenty-six miles an hour. And even then who’s going to live in dread of a charging squirrel! (Sorry—that was a bit off the point.) Running at thirty miles an hour is faster than a used Pinto will go. Just one problem with this phenomenon. Rhinos can see only thirty feet in front of them. Can you imagine something that large moving in concert as a group, plowing ahead at thirty miles an hour with no idea what’s at thirty-one feet? You would think that they would be far too timid to pick up full steam, that their inability to see far enough ahead would paralyze them to immobility. But with that horn pointing the way, rhinos run forward full steam ahead without apprehension, which leads us to their name.

Rhinos moving together at full speed are known as a crash. Even when they’re just hanging around enjoying the watershed, they’re called a crash because of their potential. You’ve got to love that. I think that’s what we’re supposed to be. That’s what happens when we become barbarians and shake free of domestication and civility. The church becomes a crash. We become an unstoppable force. We don’t have to pretend we know the future. Who cares that we can see only thirty feet ahead? Whatever’s at thirty-one feet needs to care that we’re coming and better get out of the way.

We need to move together as God’s people, a barbarian tribe, and become the human version of the rhino crash. The future is uncertain, but we need to move toward it with confidence. There’s a future to be created, a humanity to be liberated. We need to stop wasting our time and stop being afraid of what we cannot see and do not know. We need to move forward full force because of what we do know.

We may not be able to see what’s at thirty-one feet, but we don’t have to be blind to what’s right in front of us. There’s a world that desperately needs God, a world filled with loneliness, hopelessness, and fear. We have somehow become deaf to a cry that reaches heaven coming from the souls of men. But God hears. (story credit goes to Erwin McManus in The Barbarian way)

Our Tribal Song –

Colossians 3:16 – Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.

There is a tribe in Africa called the Himba tribe, where the birth date of a child is counted not from when they were born, nor from when they are conceived but from the day that the child was a thought in its mother’s mind. And when a woman decides that she will have a child, she goes off and sits under a tree, by herself, and she listens until she can hear the song of the child that wants to come. And after she’s heard the song of this child, she comes back to the man who will be the child’s father, and teaches it to him. And then, when they make love to physically conceive the child, some of that time they sing the song of the child, as a way to invite it.

And then, when the mother is pregnant, the mother teaches that child’s song to the midwives and the old women of the village, so that when the child is born, the old women and the people around her sing the child’s song to welcome it. And then, as the child grows up, the other villagers are taught the child’s song. If the child falls, or hurts its knee, someone picks it up and sings its song to it. Or perhaps the child does something wonderful, or goes through the rites of puberty, then as a way of honoring this person, the people of the village sing his or her song.

In the African tribe there is one other occasion upon which the villagers sing to the child. If at any time during his or her life, the person commits a crime or aberrant social act, the individual is called to the center of the village and the people in the community form a circle around them. Then they sing their song to them.

The tribe recognizes that the correction for antisocial behavior is not punishment; it is love and the remembrance of identity. When you recognize your own song, you have no desire or need to do anything that would hurt another.

And it goes this way through their life. In marriage, the songs are sung, together. And finally, when this child is lying in bed, ready to die, all the villagers know his or her song, and they sing—for the last time—the song to that person.

You may not have grown up in an African tribe that sings your song to you at crucial life transitions, but life is always reminding you when you are in tune with yourself and when you are not. When you feel good, what you are doing matches your song, and when you feel awful, it doesn’t. In the end, we shall all recognize our song and sing it well. You may feel a little “OFF” at the moment, but so have all the great singers. Just keep singing and you’ll find your way home.

Blessings Tribe

Pastor Steve

If we can ride bikes all night long….. can you show UP at

http://www.discoveryprescott.com ?

What a great finish to our couples small group tonight.
over the past six weeks, we talked about The strengths and weaknesses in marriage, Conflict resolution , anger management and how the Holy Spirit assist us in developing the fruits of the spirit. (Gal.5)
Thank you Dave and Tracie Sewell, Michael and Jennifer Taylor, Shawn Miller, Kimberly Elias, Jason Dyer, Cristina Fuentes, James and Jessica Dufour,Ryan and Mattie Smith, Brian and Anna Bishop, Steve and Brenda Lummer for some amaZING conversation these past six weeks.
See you next week at Shawn Millers for a little BBQ.
The teaching/discussion notes will be up onwww.stevelummer.com soon.

• Ecclesiastes 3:1 “A time and season for everything under heaven” Seasons you might be in right now.

– A season of growth and vision

– A season of change and transition.

– A season of reinvention and adjustments.

– A season of dormancy and waiting for something to die off.

– A season of rest from coming out of a storm.

– A season of anticipation for what  is about to take place next.

“For such a time as this.”- Esther 4:14 “In the fullness of time”

– Galatians 4:4 The men of Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do

– 1 chronicles 12:32

The only way out is through. Resolve to remember to move out of the valley and to the peaks.

When you are in a season of  ‘Ship High in Transit‘… unload the undo cargo asap.

Reinvent yourself and know that seasons means change.  –

Men’s cafe meets every Thursday at the Crossroads Cafe at Prescott College

Talk/laugh/pray

Here are some points to part one.

You were not CREATED to be CONNECTED NOT SEPARATED

Three basic needs God has created within all of us.

1. Everybody needs somebody to love. 2. somebody to understand them.
3. Everybody needs to be needed.

Loneliness can be lethal
when I feel UNNOTICED. UNNEEDED. UNNECESSARY.
A tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea. For thousands of years, humans have been seeking out tribes … Everybody needs a tribe.
You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. – You want to radically change your life? Surround yourself with examples that it’s possible. You want to live a deeper, more meaningful existence? Engage in deeper, more meaningful conversations with the people talking about deeper, more meaningful things. Don’t let the limitations of what those around you can do become your reality. Seek out possibilities, surround yourself with inspiration, and what seems impossible will soon become the only thing you know.
Get in a tribe you want to be like.

If you feel tribe-less, rest assured in the knowledge that your tribe is out there. In addition, if you’re already surrounded by a supportive tribe, remember that there are probably many members of your tribe that you have not met yet. …BOOM!

Here is the outline to part one on Gone Tribal.

GONE TRIBAL

Pastor Steve Lummer

“It is not good for the man to be alone.” Genesis 2:18

From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. Acts 17:26,27 (NIV)

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9,10

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28

WITHOUT A TRIBE
“For I have no one else of kindred spirit “ – Philippians 2:20
SEPARATION – ISOLATION – REJECTION

Christ incarnate (“be made flesh”), from in- + caro (“flesh”).
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 (NKJV)

He Came to us on Our TERMS – He came to Our TURF
He came to Our TRIBE

Psalm 68:5,6 A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation. 6 God sets the solitary in families

Some Trademarks of Our Tribe
1. Love without limits.
John 13:34 – A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (NKJV)

2. Getting through without giving up.
Luke 15:20 But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.

3. We fight for without fighting against .
Fight the good fight of the faith. 1 Timothy 6:12

Here is a great thought on becoming part of the tribe of the transplanted .

At a National Prayer Breakfast held annually at the Washington Hilton Hotel. The breakfast is a bipartisan gathering of leaders from all branches of government and both houses of Congress as well as delegations of leaders from foreign countries. The speaker that year was Bill Frist. Prior to his tenure in the U.S. Senate, Dr. Frist performed more than 150 heart transplants as a thoracic surgeon. During his remarks, he talked in reverent tones about the moment when a heart has been grafted into a new body and all the surgical team can do is wait in hopes that it will begin to beat. At that point he stopped speaking in medical terms and starting speaking in spiritual terms. He almost seemed at a loss for words as he described that miraculous moment when a heart beats in a new body for the first time. He called it a mystery.

Heart transplants are a marvel of modern medicine, but it goes way beyond what medicine can explain or understand. The heart is more than a physical pump. It doesn’t just circulate five thousand quarts of blood through sixty thousand miles of blood vessels day in and day out. The heart has a mind of its own. Studies suggest that the heart secretes its own brainlike hormones and has cellular memory. So a heart transplant isn’t just physical; it’s metaphysical. Heart transplant recipients don’t just receive a new organ; they receive cellular memories.

In his book A Man After His Own Heart, Charles Siebert shares a scientific yet poetic depiction of a heart transplant he observed at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. Not long after, Siebert attended an annual banquet for transplant recipients and he was deeply moved by their profound appreciation for life. They spoke in reverent tones about the second chance at life they had been given. They humbly acknowledged their responsibility to honor the donor. And many of them talked about new desires that accompanied their new hearts.

Siebert concluded—and his research is backed up by numerous medical studies—that transplant recipients don’t just receive a new heart. Along with that new heart, they receive whole new sensory responses, cravings, and habits.

Siebert called this group of heart recipients “the tribe of the transplanted.”
When you give your heart to Christ, Christ gives His heart to you. And you become a part of the tribe of the transplanted. That new heart gives you a new appreciation for life. You humbly acknowledge your responsibility to honor the donor. And the cellular memories that come with that transplanted heart give you whole sensory responses, cravings, and habits. You literally feel different. Why? Because you feel what Christ feels. And chief among those sanctified emotions is compassion. Your heart begins to break for the things that break the heart of God. You become part of the this coup de compassion that started at Calvary. And that is the heart of what it means to love God with all of your heart.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Gone Tribal

Pastor Steve Lummer

What Makes Your Baby Leap?
Happy Mother’s Day
Pastor Steve Lummer

“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” – Luke 1:41-44 – (niv)
GOD CARES FOR US AS A MOTHER
“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son…It was I who taught [them] to walk, I took them up in my arms…I led them with cords of human kindness, I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them.” Hosea 11.3-4

The Tender Care of Mom

Like a mother, I HURT for you.
“For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant… I will not forsake them.” Isaiah 42.14-16

Like a mother, I’ll never FORGET you.
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” Isaiah 49.15

Like a mother, I’ll always COMFORT you.
“As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you” Isaiah 66.13

The Watchful, PROTECTION AND PUSH of Mom
“As an eagle stirs up her nest, flutters over her young, spreads abroad her wings, takes them, bears them on her wings: So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.” Deuteronomy 32.11-12
What make’s your baby leap?
As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” – Luke 1:41-44 – (niv)

THE NATURE OF GOD IS LIKE THAT OF AN EAGLE

EXTRA ORDINARY SIGHT – An eagles can spot a rabbit from as far as a mile away.
Bald eagles are capable of seeing fish in the water from several hundred feet above WATER – Five to six times sharper than a human’s.
this picture reminds us how that God vision is strong and broad enough to see everything that is going on around us and everything that is going on inside of us..

EXTRA ORDINARY SPEED -Bald eagles are powerful fliers who can reach speeds of up to 100 – 180 miles per hour during a dive. Average flight speeds are about 20 to 40 mph . They can soar for hours on end.

EXTRA ORDINARY STRENGTH – Eagles weigh about 25 LBS but they can lift 3x’s there weight.

It reminds us of the incredible power and strength of our God!
EXTRA ORDINARY PATIENCE – At from 10 to 11 weeks of age, eaglets are fully feathered, nearly full grown and can fly from the nest. BUT IT ISN’T AN EASY ADVENTURE. – The largest bald eagle nest ever recorded was found in Florida. It was more than nine feet wide and 20 feet high and weighed more than two tons.
Though many of us have seen pictures of a huge eagle’s nest high in the branches of a tree or in the crag of a cliff, few of us have gotten a glimpse inside. When a mother eagle builds her nest she starts with thorns, broken branches, sharp rocks, and a number of other items that seem entirely unsuitable for the project. But then she lines the nest with a thick padding of wool, feathers, and fur from animals she has killed, making it soft and comfortable for the eggs. By the time the growing birds reach flying age, the comfort of the nest and the luxury of free meals make them quite reluctant to leave. That’s when the mother eagle begins “stirring up the nest.” With her strong talons she begins pulling up the thick carpet of fur and feathers, bringing the sharp rocks and branches to the surface. As more of the bedding gets plucked up, the nest becomes more uncomfortable for the young eagles. Eventually, this and other urgings prompt the growing eagles to leave their once-comfortable abode and move on to more mature behavior.
EVENTUALLY THERE IS THE LEAP – WHAT MAKES YOUR BABY LEAP?

Pastor Steve