Get Your Graham Cooke On!

Have you heard of Graham Cooke?  I hadn't either, until some friends loaned me some of his CDs a few years back.

I am not one to get overly excited about preaching, and certainly not about preachers as a group.  There are very fine ones out there (T.D. Jakes is a particular favorite), but I'm not going to hang a poster of them in my bedroom or anything. I never have understood that kind of star-struck hysteria anyway.  For example, I deeply appreciate the work and talent of Paul Giamatti (my favorite actor), but if I passed him on the street in Tucson I doubt I'd do anything stupid to embarrass myself.  At least not  beyond my usual stupid when walking down the street, like smacking into a lamp post or falling into a hole (I have done both in Tucson, FYI) .

But there is this one guy--this Graham Cooke--that just so nails it for me.  The regard I have for him helps me better understand why some people form fan clubs, or why some guitarists can idolize a great musician like Hendrix.  Somehow, almost miraculously, this one preacher seems to bring Heaven down to earth for me.  I'll admit it, I'm a fan.

Here is just the latest in a long series of things Graham Cooke posts, publishes, or preaches that make me a little giddy:

"Faith does not procrastinate. We never look at what we are stepping onto or into with faith. We look at the nature of the permission. What God permits, He supports us in."

Why is that so exciting?  Well, for one thing it hits home with the current situation I have put myself in.  But it also lines up so perfectly with some of the cool stuff God is highlighting for me when I'm reading the Bible lately.

For example, here is an excerpt from Luke chapter 1...

²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[b] the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”

Except when I read it yesterday, it actually looked more like this...

²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[b] the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”

It was as if God was shouting those words at me, as if they were on fire, and they settled in my heart as I read them like burning embers.

You have to admit that what Gabriel is announcing here could sound pretty outlandish.  And yet, because it came directly from the One who sits on the throne in Heaven, it was a done deal.  You could take it to the bank, rest assured it would come about as promised.  Cousin Elizabeth was clearly a woman too old to even consider having a baby, and yet she was six months pregnant when Gabriel speaks with Mary.  He shares this, it seems, to help bolster Mary's faith.  It's as if he's saying "I know what I just told you might be hard to digest, but your elderly cousin Elizabeth is six months pregnant, so here's your proof that if God says it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen!" 

Are there promises God has made to you?  Maybe it's a promise from scripture ("If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." is one I rely on. A lot.), or a maybe it's a prophetic word someone prayed over you, or something God seemed to be saying to you directly, through whatever means.

The principle God seems to be driving home lately is that, if He says it/promises it/tells you to go do it, you should definitely get on it!

I was thinking these things over shortly before I turned to the book of Luke and read those flaming words.  I feel great, great joy over that right now, because God has said some pretty cool stuff! 

I know that people make mistakes.  I know you can misapply a Biblical promise, or that even a well-intentioned, well-seasoned prayer warrior can get it wrong when they say they have a "word" for you.  But there are times when you know that it's God.  I mean, you KNOW.  So when you know in your knower like that, don't ever start to question whether or not God really meant it, or whether He will really come through.  Not for a second.  Zechariah starts to question God earlier in this same passage from Luke, and apparently Gabriel found that pretty irritating.

As Graham Cooke seems to be saying, it doesn't really require faith to step out and trust God, once you know what it is that God is telling you to do, and that it is indeed Him telling you to do it.  And, if you watch the Graham Cooke video featured in the link below, he also seems to be saying that if you make a mistake as you're trying to follow God, don't worry about it!  He's got you covered, so go for it!

So if you know you've got a promise from God, Yay!  Or if you know God is guiding you to take action, Yay!  You can take it in full assurance, because He is supporting you all the way. 

As Graham Cooke often says, God is brilliant, eh?

Get your Graham Cooke on here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYNVH-cR9lQ
and find out more here:
http://grahamcooke.com/

or check out some really fine preaching here:
http://www.lightsource.com/ministry/the-potters-house/video-player/work-your-faith-part-1-370391.html
(You GO Bishop Jakes!)