Frank Viola's Newsletter April 2006 Promoting Contemplative Spirituality

From: PTMIN [PTMIN@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, April 07, 2006 7:57 PM
To: jimbaum@procinwarn.com
Subject: April 2006 Newsletter: Slaughtering Sacred Cows – The Felt-Presence of God

April 2006: Contents

Knowing Christ Together: Volume 2 (New CD Set)
Gathering in Homes: Volume 1 (New Book)
Body Life Conference in Lansing, Michigan: May 5-7, 2006
Slaughtering Sacred Cows: Part 3: “The Felt-Presence of God”
April Book Special

Important Note: All of our CDs have been discounted and they are now available to most countries.

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New CD Set
Knowing Christ Together: Volume 2

The second volume of Knowing Christ Together is now available! It is in CD form.

The 4-CD set contains four weighty live messages that Frank delivered to over 20 house churches who attended the Portland, Oregon conference this March. The messages are as follows:

Message 1. Lessons from the Journey
Message 2. Your Christ is Too Small: Challenging Observations on Knowing the Lord
Message 3. The Church After God’s Own Heart: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Message 4. Church Pathology 101: Four Common Diseases that Afflict House Churches

These messages are both challenging and prophetic. If you meet in a house church or simple church, or any group outside the institutional church, they are highly recommended.

If you live in the USA, order at www.ptmin.org/audiocd.htm

If you live in Canada or Mexico (only Mexico City, Guadalajara, or Monterrey), order at www.ptmin.org/canada.htm

For all other countries, order at www.ptmin.org/countries.htm

Note: All of our CDs have been discounted and they are now available to most countries.

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New Book
Gathering in Homes: Volume 1 – Beginning

Over the last two years, we have received a great deal of mail asking the following: “We’ve read Frank’s books and have left the institutional church. A group of us would like to start meeting under the Headship of Christ without a leader, but we have no idea how to start. Can you give us some guidance?”

To answer this query, Frank has just finished writing a practical guide to give new house churches a beginning. This volume, entitled Gathering in Homes, is filled with practical instruction and exercises to give your house church its legs. Questions such as “what do we do with the children?”, “what do we do about giving and money?,” “what about music and singing?,” “how, when, and where should we start meeting?” and many more questions are addressed in great detail.

This volume was not written for individuals. It is for house churches and simple churches comprised of eight or more adults who are just beginning. Particularly those who have read Frank’s books and wish to be involved in a house church that corresponds to the vision that is presented in them.

It is also written for house churches that have been meeting, but who wish to make a fresh start.

If you would like to order this volume for your group (minimum of eight or more), please write us at PTMIN@aol.com and tell us a little bit about your group. Ordering information will be emailed to you.

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Body Life Conference in Lansing, Michigan
May 5-7, 2006

On May 5-7, Frank will be holding a conference in Lansing, Michigan. He will be speaking on God’s central passion. The goal of the conference is to establish a first-century styled house church in Lansing, MI. If you would like registration information for this conference, write us at PTMIN@aol.com

The conference is FREE of charge.

Regards,
Jeanette at PTM

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Slaughtering Sacred Cows: Part 3
“The Felt-Presence of God”
by Frank Viola

I would like to say a word in preface about the following article. In 1994, what came to be known as “the Toronto Blessing” hit the United States. Rodney Howard-Browne held his first convention in the Carpenter’s Home Church in Lakeland, Florida. That convention went on for weeks. From there, it quickly spread to other parts of North America . . . most notably Toronto, Canada; Melbourne, Florida; and Pensacola, Florida.

Upon hearing about the new move of God in 1994, I traveled to Lakeland and sat in on those first meetings where ” the blessing” had just begun. The following year, I traveled to Melbourne, Florida and sat in a meeting officiated by Randy Clark when the phenomenon had spread there in full force.

I will not share my observations of “the blessing” in this article. But I’m glad I went to those meetings. Ever since I’ve been a Christian, I’ve had an insatiable hunger to know my Lord more deeply. Consequently, if I hear a report that God is uniquely at work in a given place, I will move heaven and earth to visit it. This is what prompted me to check out those early meetings in Lakeland and Melbourne.

1995 marked an important year in my life. Not because of my encounters with “the Toronto blessing.” But because of what occurred as a result.

One of my closest friends is a man named Frank Valdez. I met Frank in 1992. He is the wisest Christian I’ve ever met. He is also the most knowledgeable and spiritually insightful. (I have often told people, “If you don’t want to know the answer to your question, don’t ask Frank Valdez!”) Further, unlike many gifted Christian men, Frank is completely honest, straight-forward, and has no trace of a manipulative or deceptive spirit. He is one of the most Christ-like men that I know.

Sometime in 1995, as we were sharing lunch together, I told Frank about my observations on “the Toronto blessing.” This led into an invaluable discussion that marked a turning point in my life. Frank said to me, “There is a Christian tradition that practices a form of prayer that employs no words. It’s beyond speaking in tongues and deeper than the Toronto blessing.”

He had my attention.

As I quizzed him about his comment, Frank began to share with me about the contemplative prayer tradition. He spoke about centering prayer, lectio divina,and other ancient spiritual practices that were unfamiliar to me at the time. He also used a word that I wasn’t too keen on. I’ve since learned that this word has been historically used to honor people . . . and with equal rigor, it has been used to damn them. Frank introduced me to the Christian “mystics.”

Paranthetically, to offer some overly-simplistic definitions, contemplative prayer is a prayer of interior silence that is beyond words.

Centering prayer is a silent gazing upon the Lord that employs the use of a “sacred word” like “Lord” or “Jesus” to center one’s attention upon Him when the mind begins to wander.

Lectio Divina is a form of spiritual communion where the Scriptures are turned into prayer.

None of these practices are new to the Christian faith. They are all quite ancient. Only very recently have they been getting air-play in evangelical circles.

Back to the story. As we sat at lunch, Frank gave me a brief history of the Christian “mystics,” as they came to be known. These were Christians who sought experiential union with their God. They had a fervent love for the Lord that had landed them into hot water. That love caused them to think and experiment “outside the box” of traditional religion. In their desperation to know the Lord intimately, some of them discovered ways of communing with God that went beyond petition-prayer, Bible-reading, and speaking in tongues.

In short, I was intrigued by what Frank shared with me that day. I then launched into a quest to read the writings that were part of this tradition. More importantly, I began to implement some of their discoveries into my own devotional life. As the years passed, I met others who were on this same journey. They too had gleaned from the same writings that had helped me so much.

I later discovered that there were some in this same tradition who are my contemporaries. Most of them, however, are outside the evangelical tradition. Rather, they are part of high church denominations like Catholic, Episcopal, and Anglican. Their writings have uncovered practical forms of spiritual communion that I’ve found to be of great profit personally.

That being said, this article owes much to my discussions with Frank Valdez. We have talked about the subject of “the felt-presence of God” at length. And we’ve arrived at many of the same conclusions. A number of the ancient mystics held to this same viewpoint. Most notably, Nicholas Herman of 17th century France. He is better known as “Brother Lawrence” and wrote the spiritual classic, The Practice of the Presence of God, of which his fame rests.

Please note that my intention in writing this article is to set at liberty a vast number of Christians who have grown pathologically dependent on “feeling God’s presence” or who have unwittingly used it as a benchmark to measure their spiritual condition. It is also to set at ease those who have unsuccessfully sought “the feeling” of God’s presence without success.

My hope is that the Spirit of God would use this article to give His people a proper perspective of God’s holy presence. A perspective that will de-mystify the mystical in their lives and set them at liberty to love their Lord beyond feelings and sensations. A perspective that will encourage them to walk by the highest spiritual sense of all . . . faith. And faith transcends the realm of the senses. As Paul put it, “we walk by faith, not by sight.”

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I spent most of my early Christian life drinking deeply from the wells of the Pentecostal/charismatic movement. There is much in that movement that is helpful and authentic. I am thankful for what it taught me about one aspect of God’s present activity. At the same time, there is much in that movement that is not so helpful. And a good bit that’s not exactly authentic.

The propensity to seek the felt-presence of God in that movement is central and overwhelming. I’ve watched Christians struggle with this quest to the point of concluding that something was wrong with them . . . that God loved them less . . . all because they weren’t “feeling” or “sensing” God’s presence on a regular basis.

I have known Christian women and men who were utterly devoted to the Lord, extremely gifted, spiritually insightful and fruitful. Yet in private, their confession was that they had never “felt” the presence of God.

I’ve also personally known Christians who were in dire spiritual straits. Some were living a double-life. Yet they didn’t wince at their poor condition because during worship services or prayer times they regularly “felt the presence of God.”

This being said, I believe that there is a great deal of confusion over this matter of God’s presence. Part of it is rooted in semantics. Another part is rooted in bad theology.

Let’s look at the semantic problem first. (Semantics refers to the words we use to express certain concepts.)

Stated simply, some Christians have a way of overstating their experiences. Others understate them. Two people may experience the same exact phenomenon . . . whether it be a church meeting, a conference, a retreat, a convention, a particular manifestation of the Holy Spirit, or a shared encounter. One person will describe it as “unbelievable!” . . . “incredible!” . . . “awesome!” . . . “beyond description!” Another will describe it as “good” . . . enjoyable” . . . “encouraging” . . . delightful.”

People often use different vocabulary for expressing the same thing. For instance, Watchman Nee used a unique phrase when he referred to his fellowship with the Lord. He called it “touching the Lord.” Others use the phrase “sweet communion.” Others use “Divine encounter.” Others use less phenomenological phrases.

To describe fixing one’s heart upon the Lord, some people use the phrase “turning to the Lord.” Others use the word “gazing.” Others say “beholding.” Still others say “contemplating” or “centering” or “abiding” or “partaking.” Others describe it as “meditating.”

By and large, it’s semantics.

I’ve observed this principle all of my Christian life: People express the same experiences differently. This is due to many different factors. Some of which are the person’s temperament, the specific vocabulary that is used in one’s fellowship circle, or a specific “effect” they wish to have on those who hear them testify. (Sometimes this isn’t so well motivated.)

In addition, to say that a Christian is to “seek” a feeling of God’s presence is bad theology. Plain and simple. There is no such exhortation in all of Scripture. Try to find it in the New Testament, and you will discover that it is glaringly absent. There is no such example either.

An oft-quoted passage used to support the idea of seeking God’s felt-presence is Psalm 22:3. In the KJV, it reads: “You, God, inhabit the praises of Israel.” This text has been traditionally used to invoke or summon God’s presence by singing praise and worship songs.

Strikingly, except for the KJV, the New Jerusalem Bible, and the New Century Version, all of the other versions take a different tack on the translation. For instance, the Revised English Bible translates it this way: “You, the praise of Israel, are enthroned in the sanctuary.”

The New American Bible takes the same approach: “Yet you are enthroned in the holy place, O glory of Israel.” The New International Version does likewise: “Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.” The New Living Translation translates it as follows: “Yet you are holy, the praises of Israel surround your throne.”

The term “praise” here is seen as a reference to the One who Israel praises. The text is an affirmation of an Old Testament commonplace. To wit, that the presence of God dwells in the holy of holies in the Temple at Jerusalem. It in no way indicates that God is somehow made present by our praises.

According to the scholars who have translated this passage in the above versions: (1) The text must be understood in the context of Old Testament Temple worship, and (2) It is God Himself in His presence in the Temple who is called “the Praise (or Glory) of Israel.” What’s more, we must be cautious about literally applying to Christian worship statements about Old Testament Temple worship. Consider the implications of Jesus’ words in John 4 in this regard. “Believe me . . . a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

Let me begin by drawing some distinctions about God’s presence. These are my own linguistic handles and definitions. I know no other way to communicate about this matter as it can tend to be complex:

1) The Reality of God’s Presence – refers to when God is actually present in or with a person or group of people.
2) The Felt-Presence of God – refers to the perceptible and evident sense or feeling of God’s presence.
3) The Active Consciousness of God’s Presence – refers to when one’s mind and heart is actively set upon God.
4) The Background Consciousness of God’s Presence – refers to the mostlyunnoticed, but ever-present consciousness of God’s presence. More on this later.

Now some candid observations on the presence of God that I hope will bring clarity to the issue:

* God is always present in the life of the believer . . . whether one actively feels His presence or not. Jesus Christ Himself promised His followers, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” To put it another way, the reality of God’s presence is always with the believer, and it changes not. It is not dependent on or evidenced by feelings or senses.

* The New Testament is quite loud in its proclamation that God in Christ dwells in every believer by the Holy Spirit. That is an unmovable fact. To state it personally, you dear Christian, are always in God’s presence! His presence is not something you need to seek. It’s not something you need to acquire. The presence of God is not something to be invoked, summoned, or sought after. It is an ever-present reality for all Christians. As Paul said to the Romans, you don’t need to go to heaven to bring Christ down. Nor do you need to go to the depths to bring Christ up. He is in you . . . nearer than your breath is to your mouth. You have access to Him at any moment (Romans 10).

* There is a great difference between the “felt-presence” of God and the “active consciousness” of His presence. To be conscious of His presence is to be “actively aware” that He is with you and in you. How do you become actively conscious of His presence? By simply putting your attention upon Him. In Paul’s words, to be conscious of God’s presence is to “set your mind on the Spirit” (Romans 8). Some of the mystics called the active consciousness of God’s presence “being in His presence.” Technically, that’s not correct. We are always in His presence for He lives in us. Practically, however, to be “in His presence” is simply to turn your attention upon Him.

* One can be actively conscious of God’s presence by a simple act of faith. I give you as an example what I call “the analogy of the nose.” Your nose is always with you, correct? It is a part of you. It is inseparable from you. However, you can go all day long and never once give attention to your nose. Does this mean that you are no longer in the presence of your nose? No. It simply means that you can be unconscious of it. In the same way, the Lord is always with you. But you can go about your busy day and never once acknowledge Him or think about Him. You can set your mind on earthly things and never once be conscious of the Lord’s presence. On the contrary, by setting your mind and heart upon Him, you become actively conscious of His presence.

* The secret to spiritual formation is to be conscious of God’s presence as much as possible. How is this? There is a surface element and then there is a deeper spiritual element. I will only address the surface element in this article. Imagine with me that Jesus Christ physically appeared to you right now. And . . . He went with you wherever you went. That is, you physically saw Him at all times. He was physically with you every waking moment. Would this have any effect on your conduct and behavior? The answer is obviously yes. The disciples were changed simply by being with Him! (“And they took note that they had been with Jesus.”) Brother Lawrence called the active consciousness of God’s presence the art of “practicing His presence.” For Brother Lawrence, to practice God’s presence is to be mindful of Him all day long. It is to converse with Him and turn to Him throughout the day. It would be a kin to drawing my attention to my nose constantly. Although my nose is always with me, I may or may not be conscious of it. It all depends on where my attention is centered.

* A few words about the felt-presence of God. It is possible to have experiences where one is overwhelmed with the “feeling” or “sense” of God’s nearness, His majesty and power, His love, His favor, and His union and oneness with the believer. To put it another way, it is possible to have a “sense” or “feeling” of His presence. However, I am of the strong opinion that we should never “seek” for such feelings. Nor should we make the profound mistake of employing such feelings as a gauge or measure of spirituality or spiritual formation. Permit me to speak personally for a moment. In my own life, I have had numerous occasions where I felt overwhelmed with God’s love, grace, and nearness to the point of weeping profusely. (I used to be embarrassed by this, but I’ve learned to just accept it. It’s how I typically react when I’m overwhelmed by the Lord’s love.) I’ve had times when I felt God’s power so strong that I physically couldn’t contain it. I literally felt that I was going to explode. I’ve also known times when I literally “smelled” the fragrance of His presence and other times where I had ecstatic experiences too deep for words. (I cannot explain any of these experiences rationally by the way.) However . . . none of these experiences were a measure of my spiritual condition. Nor did they display God’s sentiments toward me at a particular time, as though His feelings for me changed with the wind or were based upon my conduct. Further, I have learned not to seek such experiences. If they come, they come. If I never have them again, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m always in His presence, and He is always with me. His love and favor toward me remain unchanged. They cannot be altered for they are not based on my work, but upon the work of Another. Further, I have learned to delight in the quiet rest that comes from just turning my attention upon Him . . . whether that be in a time of quiet stillness before Him . . . or it be it throughout the day where I’m constantly in fellowship with Him. This discovery is not novel. It is echoed in most of the writings of the mystics. A number of them have written rather strongly that to seek “spiritual” delights is just as harmful as seeking “worldly” delights.

* In the 16th century, a Spanish monk who was very short (he was only five feet tall) known as John of the Cross wrote extensively on the Lord’s presence. John became a priest at 25 years of age. He wrote his best-known books between the ages of 35 and 37. In one of his books, he described what he called “the dark night of the soul.” This experience is when God removes the “sense” of His presence from a believer’s life. Some Christians believe this is an exotically rare experience that few have. Others believe it’s much more common. According to John of the Cross, “the dark night” is when God tosses out the moral compass from a believer’s life. The Christian feels as though God simply does not exist! I have no desire to expound on the dark night except to illustrate one point. Consider this analogy. During the course of the day, you are virtually always unconscious of the presence of your nose. The exception is when you have a sniffle, a nose itch, a nose bleed, or when you look in the mirror. But if you were to have surgery and your nose was removed, you would certainly be conscious that something essential was missing! And that consciousness would remain for quite a long time. Point: There is something that I call “the background consciousness of God’s presence.” If God were to remove this background consciousness, you would know it immediately! The background consciousness of God’s presence is largely undetected and unnoticed by us Christians. We don’t notice it for one simple reason: It’s always present. It’s not dissimilar to why you don’t notice the ring you wear on your finger or the watch you wear on your wrist every day . . . you don’t notice it because it’s always there. However, if the consciousness of God’s ever-abiding presence were removed, it would register heavily upon us. So in one regard, we are always conscious of the Divine presence in that we are used to it. The light of God is always on. But it looms in the background. At another level, we can be actively conscious of His presence . . . we can be centered on His presence in the foreground. . . we can be aware of it . . . and attentive to it. Again, consider the analogy of the nose.

At this point you might ask: How do I become actively conscious of God’s presence? There are many ways. I am presently writing a book that will discuss a number of them practically that I have gleaned from various ancient spiritual instructors and that I have built into my own life over the last decade. (A note to the curious: I’ve only written two rough draft chapters for the book. But it’s progressing.)

For the purposes of this small essay, I shall introduce you to one of the simplest ways which will also help make my overriding point.

At this very moment, turn your attention on the Lord who is always with you and who is always in you. Open your mouth and say, “Lord, I am thankful that I belong to you and am known by you. You dwell in me and are always with me.”

At that very moment, you are in His presence . . . at that very moment, you are conscious of His presence . . . at that very moment, you are practicingHis presence . . . or whatever other name you wish to assign to it. This is true regardless of what your senses or feelings may say. God’s presence is deeper than any human sensation or perception.

Continue this simple practice the rest of your life, and you have found the wellspring and mainstay of spiritual formation.

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End Note:

In connection with one of the closing sentences of this article, “God’s presence is deeper than any human sensation or perception,” I would like to add a few words about three people who Frank Valdez introduced me to. I think it will prove helpful to help unearth the unhealthy roots of “the felt-presence of God” sacred cow.

Meister Eckhart was a 13th century German mystic who is generally regarded as the fountainhead of “Rhineland mysticism”. He taught that God was beyond all conceptualization. This conceptualization included the “concept” of god itself. Meister pointed people to the “God beyond god”, i.e., the God who exceeds any concept we have of Him. This means that God cannot be possessed as an idea or an experience or a feeling. Our knowledge of Him is a poor reflex of His knowledge of us. He graciously owns us as His redeemed creations and we should see ourselves as being His rather than seeing Him in any sense as being ours as an object or possession.

Thomas Merton was very influenced by Eckhart. Merton added a social and historical dimension to Eckhart’s critique of religion. According to Merton, modern people define themselves by what they can buy and own. We want to “own” God as if He were another consumer good which adds to our sense of self-worth as an especially valuable possession. But God cannot be owned because He is not an object.

The great Christocentric theologian Karl Barth also said that God is never an object. He is never the passive recipient of our investigation. God is always the revealing Subject who reveals Himself to us and is knowable only in faith.

[ Note: Slaughtering Sacred Cows Parts 1 and 2 can be found at www.ptmin.org/articles.htm ]

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April Book Special

This April we are offering the following two specials for USA CUSTOMERS ONLY or for those who can supply a USA SHIPPING ADDRESS.

Special 1: Order KNOWING CHRIST TOGETHER: VOLUME 1 (the book) with KNOWING CHRIST TOGETHER: VOLUME 2 (the 4-CD set) for only $25.00. (The CD set alone is regularly priced at $22.) To order, go to www.ptmin.org/knowingspecial.htm

Special 2: Order our 5-Book Special and get Rethinking the Will of God FREE. Simply order the 5-book special at www.ptmin.org/specials.htm and we’ll throw in the free book.

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