Mouth Piece

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Mouth Piece

People have kindly said,
“When you get a church, I’m coming,”
or “I’d love for you to be my pastor,”
and as someone who’s struggled with seeking affirmation my entire life, the offer is tempting.

But I refuse—because this is not church.

What we often think of as “church” isn’t the Church at all.
I’ve shared about the industrial church before, so I won’t rehash all of that here,
but what I hope to drive home is this:

The Church is Christ’s body—a complete man.

“till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;”
– Ephesians 4:13

But the industrial church is some sort of grotesque, eldritch creature.
Because it is preacher-“worship”-pastor-centric,
it’s become a big, monstrous mouth,
while the rest of the body is weak and atrophied to the point that it cannot function.
So, it just sits there and performs
while its members are dying on the vine.

The problem is, we keep looking for someone to follow—someone to represent us and do all our work.
But there’s more to church than a mouthpiece.
Our gifts, like salt, should bring out the gifts of others, not overpower them.

“No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.
And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor…”
– 1 Corinthians 12:22–23

I refuse a model where the members outsource their responsibility to function—
to seek, to study, to serve, and to grow—to a preacher.

Beware a “church” where you mostly go and stay in place,
where worship is reduced to music,
where service is relegated to projects,
and where the parts of the body only see and support each other on designated days of the week.
If your body was dismembered in that way, it would die.

Beloved, in Christ’s Church,
all the members function.
They support and edify each other DAILY
to the end of growth
until we, together, express the perfect man—Jesus Christ.

I confess that I’ve contributed to the problem
by allowing my hurt and insecurities to cause me to withdraw and to hide.

For all my passion, for all my critique,
I haven’t been as present as I should be.
I’ve stood outside the brokenness, pointing fingers,
when I should have been inside, bearing burdens and breaking bread.

I repent.

By God’s grace, I will fight—
past inconvenience,
past my own selfishness,
past hurt,
past the past,
past the very Gates of Hell over which Jesus gives us power—
toward communion with my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I want to be the Body with you.
I want to know you, be known by you,
and grow with you until Christ is formed in us.
Not in performance, not in programs,
but in presence—
in our everyday obedience and mutual care in love.

I write this not to dwell on what we are not,
but so that we walk in what Christ says we already are—
established on the rock of the truth of who He is,
against which even the power of Hell cannot prevail.

Let’s be that Church. Together.

Grace and Truth: Conviction Without Compromise or Condemnation

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Grace and Truth: Conviction Without Compromise or Condemnation

“Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.” — Colossians 4:5

How do I live in a secular society and respond to sin without being self-righteous?

I am praying for a heart that responds to sin and approaches sinners the way Jesus does—treating people with compassion and as human beings. He dwelled with us and ate with us², with no desire to condemn us³, but wanting us to be saved⁴ and with Him in God.

How can I do that? What does that look like? I’m asking, seeking, knocking⁵.

Here’s what I’ve got so far…

Jesus’s presence is like the gate or door to an illustrious mansion, and at the gate all are welcome⁶.

There He presents goods that indicate how wonderful it is inside⁷, sharing the good news that we’re invited to live there, while also teaching what is required for entry—an abandonment of everything to follow Jesus through the complete transformation that is necessary to enter⁸. The main focus of His correction is attitudes and affections—heart conditions that would prevent entry⁹.

We are transformed as we enter, like the increasingly narrowing path of the “Eye of the Needle” that necessitates shedding ourselves of everything to get through—sanctification¹⁰.

There’s acceptance at the Door but exacting standards when one enters¹¹.

It reminds me of the ruler from Matthew 22¹² who asked his servants to go out and invite people from the highways and byways to fill his house. But once they were inside, the ruler finds a guest who doesn’t have on a wedding garment and is condemned because that guest should have been clear on what they were invited to and what it demanded—the wedding garment, which are the righteous acts of the saints as described in Revelation 19¹³, and would have been received from the Master of the house. Again that garment of righteousness is the Master’s work¹⁴, not ours, and we must be careful to abide in it¹⁵.

So what’s our role as followers of Christ?

To those outside, we are present in a way that proclaims and presents the treasures of the Kingdom, both in word and in deed¹⁶.

To those who come inside, we point each other to Christ. We serve, share, edify, and hold each other accountable¹⁷.
We don’t cause sanctification—it is God’s work¹⁸. But we walk together in it, helping each other continue as we continue ourselves¹⁹.

Legend of Scripture References (NKJV):

¹ Colossians 4:5 – “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.”

² Luke 15:2 – “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”
John 1:14 – “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”

³ John 3:17 – “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

⁴ 2 Peter 3:9 – “…not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

⁵ Matthew 7:7 – “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

⁶ John 10:9 – “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”
John 14:6 – “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'”
John 7:37 – “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”

⁷ Matthew 13:52 – “Every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

⁸ Luke 14:33 – “Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”
Romans 12:2 – “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”
Matthew 24:13 – “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”

⁹ Matthew 6:21 – “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Mark 7:21–23 – “For from within, out of the heart… proceed evil thoughts… All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
Matthew 15:19 – “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries…”
John 8:43-44 – “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do…”

¹⁰ Mark 10:25 – “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Hebrews 10:14 – “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”

¹¹ Matthew 7:13–14 – “Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life…”

¹² Matthew 22:9–13 – Parable of the wedding feast and the guest without a garment.

¹³ Revelation 19:8 – “And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen… for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”

¹⁴ Isaiah 61:10 – “…He has clothed me with the garments of salvation…”

¹⁵ John 15:10 – “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”

¹⁶ Romans 10:14–15 – “How shall they believe… unless they hear? …How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel…”
Matthew 5:16 – “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works…”

¹⁷ Hebrews 10:24–25 – “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works…”
Galatians 6:1–2 – “Bear one another’s burdens…”

¹⁸ 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 – “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely…”

¹⁹ Philippians 2:12–13 – “Work out your own salvation… for it is God who works in you…”

Why I Believe

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Why I Believe

The reason I believe.

I believe because of this indestructible, life-giving love.

It’s curious; I received Love, then I met Him. God loved me first, but I come to understand His love as I do it.

Imagine being healed. That’s amazing. But what is even more miraculous is being made capable of doing it.

I could dismiss being healed as a fluke or by attributing it to another cause, but to be able to do it (love) consistently is evidence and removes any doubt.

Jesus’s words are true,
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
— Acts 20:35

Because He loved me, now I can love with this indestructible, life-giving love, even toward those who are hateful toward me—utterly amazing, because I know how selfish I am.

It’s like a superpower.

I readily admit that I do it imperfectly, but His love is sanctifying. As He loves me, as I love others and I love Him, I’m being sanctified and my love is being perfected.

It’s a love that may start rough but still accomplishes its purpose (life), is being perfected as it continues, and it never ends.

“Love never fails.”
– 1 Corinthians 13:8

Hallelujah.

This is my experience. This is my testimony.

This is one of many reasons for my faith.

I’ve been told that this is my subjective experience and does not point to any objective reality.

I do not deny that it is my subjective experience. We may both know my wife, but my experience of her does not match your experience of her—subjective. We all experience a person subjectively, that doesn’t make them any less objective and real.

I can no more deny the person of Love than I can the love of my life.

God is love.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
— 1 John 4:7-8

Growing in love: learning more and more of His love for me, and loving others more and more—these things working in tandem—has been for me the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

#perfectourlove #love #testimony

P.S. Thank you, Pastor Jones, for being the vessel I received Christ and His love through.

Give Me A Heart To Follow You

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Give Me A Heart To Follow You

I’m a goat at times,

too smart for my own good,

stiff-necked and belligerent,

refusing to move unless I want to, until I think it’s safe, until I know where we’re going and why.

I repent.

Lord Jesus, help me to be Your sheep that says,

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;

FOR YOU ARE WITH ME…”
— Psalm 23:4

Help me follow Your voice because You love me, because I love You and because all I want is to be where You lead.

Amen.

#perfectourlove #desireGodalone #therealbattle

The Danger Of Any Other Desire

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - The Danger Of Any Other Desire

The road to hell is paved with “there’s nothing wrong with…”

How many times have you heard that?

Countless.

How many times have you heard “desire nothing besides God”?

Maybe a few.

Take the narrow road.

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
— Matthew 7:13-14

They say, “There’s nothing wrong with money, it’s the love of money…”

Why then does Jesus refer to money as “unrighteous” mammon in Luke 16:9 and 11?

Why then does Peter refer to money as “filthy lucre” in 1 Peter 5:2?

Why then does Jesus warn us against the “deceitfulness of riches” in Matthew 13:22 and Mark 4:19?

Whatever we set our hearts on moves it.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
— Luke 12:34

Money is not inert.

Money is part of a system. It’s currency.

Money pushes and pulls. When we set our eyes on money (or anything else) to desire it, we fall into the bondage of sin.

Does this mean we can’t or shouldn’t have money?

I can have anything, I just can’t want it.

THAT is why money is described as unrighteous, so that I maintain a healthy suspicion of it and avoid its allure.

It’s a lure.

“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”
— 1 Corinthians 6:12

The real battle is desire.

Desire God alone and resist giving other things power over you.

I couldn’t have understood this just five years ago, because on some level, I believed that God was the means to achieve goodness and abundance.

But that is the lie.

God is everything good. There is nothing desirable beyond Him.

He IS all that I desire. (Psalm 73:25)

Everything else is a deception and leads to destruction. (James 1:16-17)

Jesus said the greatest commandment is,

“And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”
— Mark 12:30

Ask, seek and knock for a heart that desires God alone.

#perfectourlove #therealbattle #desireGodalone

Victory Over Desire

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Victory Over Desire

The real battle is desire.

Jesus is plainly giving us the keys that unlock everything.

But we miss it because of what we want.

This frustrated Jesus. He exclaimed,

“Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.”
— John 8:43

Then, He explains,

“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.”
— John 8:44

The real battle is desire.

Jesus continues in John 8:44 saying,

“He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

The beginning.

Adam and Eve had everything—goodness and abundance in the presence of God. They lost it because they were deceived into wanting something else.

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.”
— Genesis 3:6

The problem is we want a lie.

And, Satan is the father of it.

But what the first Adam lost, the second Adam reclaimed through the biggest flex in history.

“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.”
— John 14:30

In other words, Jesus was saying, there was no desire for anything else in Him for the enemy to manipulate.

Jesus desires God alone.

We lose the Truth when we want a lie.

“Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”
— James 1:16-17

This is why the WHOLE work is believing God rather than Satan.

“Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.'”
— John 6:28-29

What are we to believe? What Jesus says about God.

Why? So that we desire God alone.

When that’s our heart it naturally produces the work of God: being with Him.

And, how do we be with Him?

Through Communion with Him and all that belongs to Him.

So, the goal is being with Him and the means are helping others to be with Him—the ministry of reconciliation.

The main enemy that hinders that is our desire.

Any desire other than God is sin and causes division, making us an enemy of God.

“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.”
— Matthew 12:30

Through Christ we have goodness and abundance in the presence of God.

Don’t lose it by wanting a lie.

The real battle is desire.

Lord, I repent!

I want other things that hinder my enjoyment of You. Reveal them to me that I may surrender them to You.

Father, please give me Your heart—the heart of Your Son, Jesus Christ—that desires You, alone.

Signed with the authority given to me by Jesus for His business.

Amen.

#perfectourlove #therealbattle #desireGodalone

52 Weeks Of Gratefulness #13 – A Smile

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - 52 Weeks Of Gratefulness #13 - A Smile

In Week 13 of 52 Weeks Of Gratefulness, I give thanks to God for a smile.

We’ve been working with some students to prepare for a cybersecurity competition.

I noticed that one of our kids stopped coming to the meetings.

So, I went to their class and asked for them by name.

They come to the door with a blank stare—a palpable hardness.

I say, “Hey, I’ve missed you at the meetings. Do you want to go to the competition?”

Something in their face shifts for a second and they say, “Yeah, but I didn’t think I was good enough.”

I responded, “That’s why I’m here, because you’re one of my best”, and handed them the registration form.

Then, there was that shift again but this time it gave way to a brief smile. As though to hide it, they looked down at the form.

“You’re going to bring this back to me tomorrow?” I asked.

They nodded affirmatively and then walked back into class.

The child that walked away was different than the one that came to the door, and I’m grateful.

#52WoG

Realizing the Wonderful Work of the Wilderness

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Realizing the Wonderful Work of the Wilderness

Money’s tight. Somehow in my mind that has come to mean I’m a failure. As I pray, looking for a way out, God shows me this is why He led me into the wilderness: sanctification. He allows me to walk in circles to kill off the Egypt in me that would even think in those terms. I will wander until I’m perfectly content being with Him wherever I am.

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain.”
– 1 Timothy 6:6

Then, and only then, am I truly free to have other things without them having me (1 Corinthians 6:12).

Am I growing spiritually? That’s the measure.

I believe I am growing spiritually, and that it has resulted in more life in me and my relationships. That’s success.

I’m not settling though.

I am still moving toward the full consummation of His kingdom, which includes His sufficiency. But the key difference is that my desire is for Him—not His sufficiency. And because I have Him, I’m satisfied wherever I am along the journey and content to wait for however He may provide (Psalm 23).

I am striving to make God all that I want. And I want all of Him in whatever form that comes.

#perfectourlove #DesiringGod #spiritualwarfare #TheRealBattle #desire

The Real Battle Is Our Desire

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - The Real Battle Is Desire

I prayed and asked,

“Jesus lived without sin, but how?”

I believe the divine response was,

“because He desired nothing besides the Father.”

Jesus was fully God and fully man. And, though He was fully man, His singular desire for the Father kept Him in perfect obedience to the Father and in harmony with His divine nature.

We who have received His divine nature can—by His grace: His nature, His power, and His guidance—walk in obedience to the Father as He did.

But why don’t we walk perfectly in obedience? Why do we repeatedly fall into sin?

Meet your opponent: your desire.

“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”
— James 1:14-15

What did Jesus have that allowed Him to walk in perfect obedience that we should also diligently strive for?

A singular, undivided, uncompromising desire for God alone. We should desire nothing besides God.

But, what does that look like?

Imagine a circle representing the Kingdom of God, and imagine within that circle another circle representing the life of Jesus Christ. Now include another intersecting circle representing the life of Peter.

When Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ this is represented by the part of Peter’s circle that intersects with the Kingdom of God. But when he attempts to convince Jesus not to die, this represents the part of Peter’s circle that is outside the Kingdom of God.

All the while, all of Jesus is within the Kingdom, including how He must die, and He rebukes Peter for tempting Him to go outside the circle of God’s Kingdom (His will), which is sin.

One of the biggest takeaways should be even though Peter was coming from an undoubtedly genuine place of care and kindness for someone he loved, it was ultimately evil because Peter’s desire was misplaced, and if followed, would have damned us all—just like the original Adam.

This is what God is dealing with me on. He has brought me to a point in my walk where my goal is to desire nothing besides God.

Lord, make me a man after Your own heart!

Does this mean I don’t love my family, my brothers and sisters in Christ, or you?

Remember the earlier Scripture from James 1:14-15? Read the very next verses:

“Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”
— James 1:16-17

When God is our sole desire, we love what is in and we love from within God.

“If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.”
— 1 John 4:20-21

That’s loving what’s in God.

“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
— Matthew 5:44-45

And, that’s loving from within God.

The goal is union rather than intersection—for God to be our whole desire, with nothing outside.

This is a picture of perfection, and the means of acquiring it: the heart God gives—Christ’s heart—that desires God alone.

The real battle is desire, and the stakes couldn’t be higher—our endless, unhindered enjoyment of God starting right now.

#perfectourlove #spiritualwarfare #TheRealBattle #desire

How Interruptions Reveal Our Heart

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - How Interruptions Reveal Our Heart

When we say what the reason is for the things that we do, what comes first in our lives, and when we say things like, “We do what we do for our kids” or, “We’re keeping God first”, we often deceive ourselves. It is often a vicious lie—a good face to rationalize and justify our real, selfish and evil motives; a totem to mask our idols and the demons that we serve.

The hearts we’re born with, being powerless to resist deception, become agents of deception—a medium of the propaganda of and a means of control for the prince of the power of the air, “deceitful above all things, desperately wicked”—and are therefore not to be trusted.

So, how can we discern the real reasons for the things that we do and what is actually first in our lives?

Interruptions and our reaction to them.

Interruptions and what they elicit in me—irritation, anger, frustration, annoyance, hate—reveal my true priorities and what I’m really seeking.

Whatever is being interrupted is a greater priority than the interruption.

I own a business. I started it to provide for my family.

One day I was picking up my son from school. He may have been in kindergarten at the time. As we were walking to the truck, my son, with a backpack almost bigger than he was, was dawdling about, walking listlessly. But I was in a rush to get to my next appointment and I yelled at him, “Would you come on here?!” I remember how that frightened him by the sudden startled look in his eyes, as the rushed spirit in me became the rushed spirit in him.

I cry writing this.

And as I think back, his little face indicated that he had something on his mind, but I missed that because, my son, someone I truly love—the one who I claimed to be working for—in that moment became the interruption.

How?

Lies block love.

My heart was not guarded and I fell prey to the lying suggestions about what I should want according to this world: who I should be, what I should be doing, what I should have, and it established in my heart a new pursuit.

And just that quick, the lies supplanted what should have been my priority in that moment—my son—by subtly seeding a desire for a different one. It’s that insidious.

I was made aware of it by the grace of God that allowed me to see a priority that I had allowed to become an interruption.

The guard we have against this now is the same guard there’s been since the dawn of man—loving God which is obedience to His Word.

The way we combat the deception of our hearts is by loving God—by abiding in Christ, who is the living Word.

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
— Hebrews 4:12

In His presence, all the shadows of our hearts are illuminated and our hidden motives are brought to light. The ultimate battle is to resist competing, deceptive and corrupting “loves” which is anything besides God. And as we seek to love God alone—with all our heart, mind, soul and strength—He rightly orders everything else so those things that should be priorities no longer become interruptions.

#perfectourlove