"The church of Jesus Christ lacks spiritual authority in society because it lacks spirituality. Why are our government leaders and the media so condescending to Christians? Why has the church lost all meaning and purpose in the world’s eyes? Why have young people written off Christianity as totally irrelevant to their lives?
"It’s because, for the most part, the church is no longer a light. Christ isn’t ruling in our society because he doesn’t reign in our lives. As I look around today, I see few in God’s house who are truly in union with Christ. There is so little fellowship with heaven. And few ministers refuse worldly methods to trust God for their direction. We have lost our light because we have lost Christ’s life. For God’s authority to have any impact, it must be lived out in yielded, obedient vessels."
--from http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/view/devotions
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Watching Paint Dry
"We cannot overemphasize bringing men and women to new birth in Christ. Evangelism is essential, critically essential. But is it not obvious that growth in Christ is equally essential? Yet the American church has not treated it with an equivalent urgency. The American church runs on the euphoria and adrenaline of new birth—getting people into the church, into the kingdom, into causes, into crusades, into programs. We turn matters of growing up over to Sunday School teachers, specialists in Christian education, committees to revise curricula, retreat centers, and deeper life conferences, farming it out to parachurch groups for remedial assistance. I don’t find pastors and professors, for the most part, very interested in matters of formation in holiness. They have higher profile things to tend to.
Americans in general have little tolerance for a centering way of life that is submissive to the conditions in which growth takes place: quiet, obscure, patient, not subject to human control and management. The American church is uneasy in these conditions. Typically, in the name of “relevance,” it adapts itself to the prevailing American culture and is soon indistinguishable from that culture: talkative, noisy, busy, controlling, image-conscious.
…Not long ago a pastor who has made an art form of pole vaulting from church to church told me that I was wasting my time on this, there was no challenge to it, it was about as exciting as standing around watching paint dry.
I suggested to him that most of our ancestors in both Israel and the Church have spent most of their time watching the paint dry, that the persevering, patient, unhurried work of growing up in Christ has occupied the center of the church’s life for centuries, and that this American marginalization is, well, American. He dismissed me. He needed, he said, a challenge. I took it from his tone and manner that a challenge was by definition something that could be met and accomplished in forty days.
...For far too long now, with full backing from our culture, we have let the vagaries of our emotional needs call the shots. For too long we have let ecclesiastical market analysis set the church’s agenda. For too long we have stood by unprotesting as self-appointed experts on the Christian life have replaced the 'full stature of Christ' with desiccated stick figures."
-Eugene Peterson, "Practice Resurrection"
Americans in general have little tolerance for a centering way of life that is submissive to the conditions in which growth takes place: quiet, obscure, patient, not subject to human control and management. The American church is uneasy in these conditions. Typically, in the name of “relevance,” it adapts itself to the prevailing American culture and is soon indistinguishable from that culture: talkative, noisy, busy, controlling, image-conscious.
…Not long ago a pastor who has made an art form of pole vaulting from church to church told me that I was wasting my time on this, there was no challenge to it, it was about as exciting as standing around watching paint dry.
I suggested to him that most of our ancestors in both Israel and the Church have spent most of their time watching the paint dry, that the persevering, patient, unhurried work of growing up in Christ has occupied the center of the church’s life for centuries, and that this American marginalization is, well, American. He dismissed me. He needed, he said, a challenge. I took it from his tone and manner that a challenge was by definition something that could be met and accomplished in forty days.
...For far too long now, with full backing from our culture, we have let the vagaries of our emotional needs call the shots. For too long we have let ecclesiastical market analysis set the church’s agenda. For too long we have stood by unprotesting as self-appointed experts on the Christian life have replaced the 'full stature of Christ' with desiccated stick figures."
-Eugene Peterson, "Practice Resurrection"
Friday, February 12, 2010
A.W. Tozer
"Whatever else it embraces, true Christian experience must always include a genuine encounter with God. Without this, religion is but a shadow, a reflection of reality, a cheap copy of an original once enjoyed by someone else of whom we have heard. It cannot but be a major tragedy in the life of any man to live in a church from childhood to old age and know nothing more real than some synthetic god compounded of theology and logic, but having no eyes to see, no ears to hear, and no heart to love."
--A.W. Tozer
A quote that always meant a lot to me.
jeff
--A.W. Tozer
A quote that always meant a lot to me.
jeff
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Pursuing a life of faith
This is an interesting quote that a friend of mine sent me the other day.
"A person has to be thoroughly disgusted with the way things are to find the motivation to set out on the Christian way. As long as we think that the next election might eliminate crime and establish justice or another scientific breakthrough might save the environment or another pay raise might push us over the edge of anxiety into a life of tranquility, we are not likely to risk the arduous uncertainties of the life of faith. A person has to get fed up with the ways of the world before he, before she, acquires an appetite for the world of grace."
"There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness...in Western culture in the latter part of the 20th century the aspect of world the makes the work of leading Christians in the way of faith most difficult is..."today's passion for the immediate and the casual"...The persons...among whom I counsel, visit, pray, preach, and teach, want short cuts. They want me to help them fill out the form that will get them instant credit (in eternity). They are impatient for results. They have adopted the lifestyle of a tourist and only want the high points. But a pastor is not a tour guide. I have no interest in telling apocryphal religious stories at and around dubiously identified sacred sites. The Christian life cannot mature under such conditions and in such ways..."The essential thing 'in heaven and earth' is...that there should be a long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results...something which has made life worth living". It is this "long obedience..." which the mood of the world does so much to discourage."
-Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience
The only thing I would add would be that you may not have to be "thoroughly disgusted" with the world (although it helps) but you must be convinced that a life submitted to our holy God is better than the life the world can give you. For many of us, we must start the submission of our lives to God before we can truly see the world for what it is. Some of us are a little slower and need the help of the Holy Spirit to see these truths.
-Shane
"A person has to be thoroughly disgusted with the way things are to find the motivation to set out on the Christian way. As long as we think that the next election might eliminate crime and establish justice or another scientific breakthrough might save the environment or another pay raise might push us over the edge of anxiety into a life of tranquility, we are not likely to risk the arduous uncertainties of the life of faith. A person has to get fed up with the ways of the world before he, before she, acquires an appetite for the world of grace."
"There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness...in Western culture in the latter part of the 20th century the aspect of world the makes the work of leading Christians in the way of faith most difficult is..."today's passion for the immediate and the casual"...The persons...among whom I counsel, visit, pray, preach, and teach, want short cuts. They want me to help them fill out the form that will get them instant credit (in eternity). They are impatient for results. They have adopted the lifestyle of a tourist and only want the high points. But a pastor is not a tour guide. I have no interest in telling apocryphal religious stories at and around dubiously identified sacred sites. The Christian life cannot mature under such conditions and in such ways..."The essential thing 'in heaven and earth' is...that there should be a long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results...something which has made life worth living". It is this "long obedience..." which the mood of the world does so much to discourage."
-Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience
The only thing I would add would be that you may not have to be "thoroughly disgusted" with the world (although it helps) but you must be convinced that a life submitted to our holy God is better than the life the world can give you. For many of us, we must start the submission of our lives to God before we can truly see the world for what it is. Some of us are a little slower and need the help of the Holy Spirit to see these truths.
-Shane
Friday, November 13, 2009
Warning!
List of Warnings I would like to post at New Springs
I just found this article. You need to click the link to read it. I don't have much to add except this is what I dream of for New Springs.
It would be good for all of this to read and think about this. Is this what New Springs should be like? Do I, as an individual, want to be a part of a church body like this?
These are questions we all need to consider and discuss.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Halloween - A Great Holiday for Christians
You like my provocative blog post title? I understand the reservations Christian people have with Halloween, the glorification of the macabre and dark and violent. I get it. Growing up, we mostly got to participate in Halloween, except for a couple of years when we just happened to be in "Church Mode" as a family. Those years, we boycotted trick or treating and played miniature golf instead. I kid you not. Miniature golf. And you know what, it was fine. In fact, I enjoyed the family time.
But I think insulating ourselves from the world's culture and isolating ourselves from the community at large is not a good idea for Christian people, not the example Jesus set, and has made the Christian church increasingly irrelevant and disconnected from the rest of humanity. We can and should participate in Halloween, and we can do so without glorifying the devil or sacrificing a goat.
Trunk or Treat at New Springs is not designed to protect us from the rest of the community. The attitude behind it is not, "Hey, we don't want to be trick or treating with all those PAGANS! Let's go trick or treat in our own church parking lot where they can't GET US!" No! Rather, the idea of Trunk or Treat, or, at least, the hope, is that people in the community outside the church feel invited to come and have fun on Halloween with us. Participating with the culture. If Jesus can drink from a Samaritan well (a big no-no for devout Jews in those days) you can put on a creepy mask and share your candy with Christians and non-Christians alike.
It is imperative that Christian people begin to care about non-Christians. It is imperative that we stop viewing "outsiders" as people to be protected from, but rather, people that God loves and that we are to love.
SO, having said that, don't just come to Trunk or Treat. Invite people. And, hey, after Trunk or Treat, depending on your neighborhood, it wouldn't be bad to go ahead and do a little Trick or Treating in your own neighborhood as well.
--Pastor Jeff
But I think insulating ourselves from the world's culture and isolating ourselves from the community at large is not a good idea for Christian people, not the example Jesus set, and has made the Christian church increasingly irrelevant and disconnected from the rest of humanity. We can and should participate in Halloween, and we can do so without glorifying the devil or sacrificing a goat.
Trunk or Treat at New Springs is not designed to protect us from the rest of the community. The attitude behind it is not, "Hey, we don't want to be trick or treating with all those PAGANS! Let's go trick or treat in our own church parking lot where they can't GET US!" No! Rather, the idea of Trunk or Treat, or, at least, the hope, is that people in the community outside the church feel invited to come and have fun on Halloween with us. Participating with the culture. If Jesus can drink from a Samaritan well (a big no-no for devout Jews in those days) you can put on a creepy mask and share your candy with Christians and non-Christians alike.
It is imperative that Christian people begin to care about non-Christians. It is imperative that we stop viewing "outsiders" as people to be protected from, but rather, people that God loves and that we are to love.
SO, having said that, don't just come to Trunk or Treat. Invite people. And, hey, after Trunk or Treat, depending on your neighborhood, it wouldn't be bad to go ahead and do a little Trick or Treating in your own neighborhood as well.
--Pastor Jeff
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
CHOSEN TO BEAR FRUIT
I liked it so much, I'll post it here, too.
CHOSEN TO BEAR FRUIT
from http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com/
“You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit” (John 15:16).
Many sincere Christians think bearing fruit means simply to bring souls to Christ. But to bear fruit means something much larger even than soulwinning.
The fruit Jesus is talking about is Christ-likeness. Simply put, bearing fruit means reflecting the likeness of Jesus. And the phrase “much fruit” means “the ever-increasing likeness of Christ.”
Growing more and more into Jesus’ likeness is our core purpose in life. It has to be central to all our activities, our lifestyle, our relationships. Indeed, all our gifts and callings—our work, ministry and witness—must flow out of this core purpose.
If I am not Christlike at heart—if I’m not becoming noticeably more like him—I have missed God’s purpose in my life.
You see, God’s purpose for me can’t be fulfilled by what I do for Christ. It can’t be measured by anything I achieve even if I heal the sick or cast out demons. No, God’s purpose is fulfilled in me only by what I am becoming in him. Christlikeness isn’t about what I do for the Lord, but about how I’m being transformed into his likeness.
Go into a Christian bookstore and read the titles on the shelves. Most are self-help books on how to overcome loneliness, how to survive depression, how to find fulfillment. Why is this? It’s because we have it all wrong. We aren’t called to be successes, to be free of all trouble, to be special, to “make it.” No, we are missing the one calling, the one focus, that’s meant to be central to our lives, to become fruitful in the likeness of Christ.
Jesus was totally given to the Father and that was everything to him. He stated, “I don’t do or say anything except what my Father tells me.”
So, do you want to bear the “much fruit” that springs forth from becoming more like Christ? We fulfill our life’s purpose only as we begin to love others as Christ has loved us. And we grow more Christ-like as our love for others increases.
“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love” (John 15:9). His command is clear and simple: “Go and love others. Give to others the unconditional love I have shown you.” We grow more Christlike as our love for others increases. Simply put, bearing fruit comes down to how we treat people.
CHOSEN TO BEAR FRUIT
from http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com/
“You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit” (John 15:16).
Many sincere Christians think bearing fruit means simply to bring souls to Christ. But to bear fruit means something much larger even than soulwinning.
The fruit Jesus is talking about is Christ-likeness. Simply put, bearing fruit means reflecting the likeness of Jesus. And the phrase “much fruit” means “the ever-increasing likeness of Christ.”
Growing more and more into Jesus’ likeness is our core purpose in life. It has to be central to all our activities, our lifestyle, our relationships. Indeed, all our gifts and callings—our work, ministry and witness—must flow out of this core purpose.
If I am not Christlike at heart—if I’m not becoming noticeably more like him—I have missed God’s purpose in my life.
You see, God’s purpose for me can’t be fulfilled by what I do for Christ. It can’t be measured by anything I achieve even if I heal the sick or cast out demons. No, God’s purpose is fulfilled in me only by what I am becoming in him. Christlikeness isn’t about what I do for the Lord, but about how I’m being transformed into his likeness.
Go into a Christian bookstore and read the titles on the shelves. Most are self-help books on how to overcome loneliness, how to survive depression, how to find fulfillment. Why is this? It’s because we have it all wrong. We aren’t called to be successes, to be free of all trouble, to be special, to “make it.” No, we are missing the one calling, the one focus, that’s meant to be central to our lives, to become fruitful in the likeness of Christ.
Jesus was totally given to the Father and that was everything to him. He stated, “I don’t do or say anything except what my Father tells me.”
So, do you want to bear the “much fruit” that springs forth from becoming more like Christ? We fulfill our life’s purpose only as we begin to love others as Christ has loved us. And we grow more Christ-like as our love for others increases.
“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love” (John 15:9). His command is clear and simple: “Go and love others. Give to others the unconditional love I have shown you.” We grow more Christlike as our love for others increases. Simply put, bearing fruit comes down to how we treat people.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Because we love
I am reading "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. I would like to share a quote from that book.
"...you have to stop loving and pursuing Christ in order to sin. When you are pursuing love, running toward Christ, you do not have the opportunity to wonder, Am I doing this right? or Did I serve enough this week? When you are running toward Christ you are freed up to serve, love, and give thanks without guilt, worry, or fear." -Francis Chan - Crazy Love
How many of us have thought to ourselves, am I doing enough, is God pleased with me? Ultimately, God is not impressed by the amount of time we spend studying the Bible. He is not impressed by our church attendance record. He is not impressed with how many bags of rice we give to CUP. He is not impressed with the time we spend serving. He is not impressed with how many people we bring to church. He is not impressed by how much money we give.
He will only be pleased with us when we do these things because we love Him and because we love people. If we truly love Him and people, all the other things will fall into place.
-Shane
"...you have to stop loving and pursuing Christ in order to sin. When you are pursuing love, running toward Christ, you do not have the opportunity to wonder, Am I doing this right? or Did I serve enough this week? When you are running toward Christ you are freed up to serve, love, and give thanks without guilt, worry, or fear." -Francis Chan - Crazy Love
How many of us have thought to ourselves, am I doing enough, is God pleased with me? Ultimately, God is not impressed by the amount of time we spend studying the Bible. He is not impressed by our church attendance record. He is not impressed with how many bags of rice we give to CUP. He is not impressed with the time we spend serving. He is not impressed with how many people we bring to church. He is not impressed by how much money we give.
He will only be pleased with us when we do these things because we love Him and because we love people. If we truly love Him and people, all the other things will fall into place.
-Shane
Monday, August 31, 2009
Love One Another
First of all, I have occasionally expressed an aversion to blogging, and the reason is because of my perception that blogs are often like this and I don't want to be like that.
However, I am seeing the value of blogging, so I soldier on.
We have all probably read or heard about this quote from Jesus: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34)
We all know that passage, yet I don't think we've really considered the full implications of what he is saying. "Your love for one another is THE way that people can know you are my disciples." It is not "one of the ways," it is "THE way." If we understood the full implications of that statement, it would be 90% of what we preach about from the pulpit.
The writers of the New Testament seem to have understood it.
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet,"and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)
Read and consider the implications of what Paul is saying here. Love is the fulfillment of the law. Whatever commandment there may be is fulfilled if you love people, if you do no harm to your neighbor. Think about that for a minute.
No one has more to say on this matter than the apostle John. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
(1 John 3:10-24)
Consider what he says here.
1) "Love one another" is the message that we have heard from the beginning
2) Our love for our brothers is how we can know that we have "passed from death to life"
3)Love is not about "words or tongue" but about "actions and truth"
4) Our love for one another is how we can "know that we belong to the truth"
5) God's command comes down to just two things: "believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another"
As if that is not strong enough, John goes on to say: Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:7-11)
Jesus said it. Paul said it. John said it. Peter says it, as well: Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)
"Above all," in other words, "this is the most important thing."
God is love. That was the great revelation of the cross about the nature of God. Through the cross, God becomes not an avenging tyrant, but the God who takes the guilt of the world upon himself, as if it were His own, and pays for it Himself, as if He were responsible for it. He lifts the burdens of humanity and places the full weight of it on his own shoulders.
2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
He frees us from the burden of sin and sets us free. But for what purpose? Paul answers that in Galatians 5:13-14:
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
He lifted the burden and freed us, so that we might be free to serve one another in love. Again, it is the summary of the whole law. "Love your neighbor as yourself." "Love one another." "Serve one another in love."
Why is this not 90% of what is preached from every pulpit? We manage to find so many other things to preach about that are not about loving one another, loving your fellowman, and serving one another in love.
However, I am seeing the value of blogging, so I soldier on.
We have all probably read or heard about this quote from Jesus: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34)
We all know that passage, yet I don't think we've really considered the full implications of what he is saying. "Your love for one another is THE way that people can know you are my disciples." It is not "one of the ways," it is "THE way." If we understood the full implications of that statement, it would be 90% of what we preach about from the pulpit.
The writers of the New Testament seem to have understood it.
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet,"and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)
Read and consider the implications of what Paul is saying here. Love is the fulfillment of the law. Whatever commandment there may be is fulfilled if you love people, if you do no harm to your neighbor. Think about that for a minute.
No one has more to say on this matter than the apostle John. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
(1 John 3:10-24)
Consider what he says here.
1) "Love one another" is the message that we have heard from the beginning
2) Our love for our brothers is how we can know that we have "passed from death to life"
3)Love is not about "words or tongue" but about "actions and truth"
4) Our love for one another is how we can "know that we belong to the truth"
5) God's command comes down to just two things: "believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another"
As if that is not strong enough, John goes on to say: Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:7-11)
Jesus said it. Paul said it. John said it. Peter says it, as well: Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)
"Above all," in other words, "this is the most important thing."
God is love. That was the great revelation of the cross about the nature of God. Through the cross, God becomes not an avenging tyrant, but the God who takes the guilt of the world upon himself, as if it were His own, and pays for it Himself, as if He were responsible for it. He lifts the burdens of humanity and places the full weight of it on his own shoulders.
2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
He frees us from the burden of sin and sets us free. But for what purpose? Paul answers that in Galatians 5:13-14:
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
He lifted the burden and freed us, so that we might be free to serve one another in love. Again, it is the summary of the whole law. "Love your neighbor as yourself." "Love one another." "Serve one another in love."
Why is this not 90% of what is preached from every pulpit? We manage to find so many other things to preach about that are not about loving one another, loving your fellowman, and serving one another in love.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Thursday, September 17th: Bill Mallonee LIVE!
Who's that?
I know that's the typical reaction.
Paste Music Magazine, in a poll conducted by both writers and artists, listed Bill Mallonee as 65 in their "100 Greatest Living Songwriters Poll."
"At the end of the day, it's about the story living under your own skin. In my work, I've just tried to chase that story down and put something of a frame around it for a spell." -Bill Mallonee
Here's just a taste. This is the only video Bill's band, The Vigilantes of Love ever produced and it's one of my favorite VOL songs.
You can hear more at http://www.myspace.com/billmallonee
More to come.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The Old Way of the Written Code
38,000 denominations. There are 38,000 recognized denominations and groups within Christianity according to the most recent data. And every single one of them has its own distinct doctrinal positions, its own traditional practices, its own theology. Yet they all appeal to Scripture to justify their thousands of differing views.
Here are just the major schisms within Christianity
Now, within each of those major branches are thousands of offshoots. Again, each distinct, each possessing unique doctrines and traditions, and every single one of them appealing to the Bible to justify their positions. How can this be?
Can it really be that among those 38,000 denominations, there is one single denomination or group of Christians who just happen to be 100% correct? Can that really be? Reading various apologetics, there certainly are many who claim it. So many who say, "We just happen to the One True Church."
How can so very many people come to so very many different conclusions on so very many doctrines when they are all using the same text (primarily the New Testament) to formulate those doctrines? They can't all be right. They might all be wrong, but they can't all be right.
Yet Christ is alive in me. I do not doubt his existence. He has changed me. At times, he has deeply moved me. He first spoke to me one night in my bedroom, a quiet midnight in a messy room in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and he has been with me ever since. I believe this. It has shaped the whole of my life and being.
So what am I to conclude about the divided state of the church? Recall that Jesus, on the night of his arrest, prayed fervently that his people would be united (John 17:20-26). Has that prayer been answered? Again, in reading apologetics of various denominations, I can't tell you how many times I read something along these lines: "There would be complete unity if people of other denominations would just agree with us, because we are right."
How can 38,000 denominations insist that they are right when they all disagree?
Could it be that we have all missed the point? Clearly, one problem is that the New Testament does not contain anything as orderly as the Levitical Law. Under the old covenant, one had a place one could go in Scripture, the Torah, where one could find all the laws, the rules, the regulations, the rituals, neatly codified. A written code located in one section of your Old Testament covering every area of faith and practice. It's simple enough. Turn to the Torah, read the rules, do what they say. (although, even in Judaism, there were and are numerous denominations, though nowhere near 38,000 of them)
The New Testament has no equivalent text. Nowhere in the New Testament do we find the complete set of rules and regulations neatly set out, chapter after chapter. Instead, scattered throughout these books (which were actually personal letters) are teachings, stories, advice, prayers, encouragement, admonishment, prophecy, poetry, etc. Could it be that this is intentional, that Christianity was NEVER meant to be reduced to a written code or a doctrinal creed or a rigid set of traditional practices? Could it be that in trying to turn Christianity into a written code, a doctrinal statement, a neatly organized set of rule and regulations, we have all made a hideous mess of it?
Could it be that Romans 7:6 already made this point, and we have somehow overlooked its significance? "But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." The new way of the Spirit. Not the old way of the written code. Consider the significance of this statement for a moment.
Could it be that, in fact, Christianity is simply about knowing Christ and becoming more like him? "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:18 And could it be that this process is a more fluid, personal, internal, relational process than the impersonal, rigid, external religion of the "written code?" Could it be?
I want to know Christ. I want to be more like Him. I want to treat others as he would treat them. To move and act and speak in this world as he would. To look like Him. To sound like Him. To resemble Him. I don't get there by gritting my teeth and forcing my behavior into a pale imitation of Him. In fact, I think He gets me there. Paul says we "are being transformed into his likeness." Note the passive verb. It is being done to us. God is doing it. The Spirit is bringing about this transformation (the new way of the Spirit). As we draw near to him, listen to Him, grow in relationship with him, he does the transforming. Fluid, personal, internal, relational.
Of course, I have my opinion on various doctrinal issues, church practices and traditions, but I hold them lightly. I might be wrong on any of them. Instead, I want to hold fast to Christ, the person, the One. I want to be like Him. Pharisees fought for their doctrines, traditions and religious practices. They shed the blood of heretics and "sinners" to protect them. On the other hand, Jesus shed his own blood, not for any of those things, but for the ones he loved. Us.
Here are just the major schisms within Christianity
Now, within each of those major branches are thousands of offshoots. Again, each distinct, each possessing unique doctrines and traditions, and every single one of them appealing to the Bible to justify their positions. How can this be?
Can it really be that among those 38,000 denominations, there is one single denomination or group of Christians who just happen to be 100% correct? Can that really be? Reading various apologetics, there certainly are many who claim it. So many who say, "We just happen to the One True Church."
How can so very many people come to so very many different conclusions on so very many doctrines when they are all using the same text (primarily the New Testament) to formulate those doctrines? They can't all be right. They might all be wrong, but they can't all be right.
Yet Christ is alive in me. I do not doubt his existence. He has changed me. At times, he has deeply moved me. He first spoke to me one night in my bedroom, a quiet midnight in a messy room in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and he has been with me ever since. I believe this. It has shaped the whole of my life and being.
So what am I to conclude about the divided state of the church? Recall that Jesus, on the night of his arrest, prayed fervently that his people would be united (John 17:20-26). Has that prayer been answered? Again, in reading apologetics of various denominations, I can't tell you how many times I read something along these lines: "There would be complete unity if people of other denominations would just agree with us, because we are right."
How can 38,000 denominations insist that they are right when they all disagree?
Could it be that we have all missed the point? Clearly, one problem is that the New Testament does not contain anything as orderly as the Levitical Law. Under the old covenant, one had a place one could go in Scripture, the Torah, where one could find all the laws, the rules, the regulations, the rituals, neatly codified. A written code located in one section of your Old Testament covering every area of faith and practice. It's simple enough. Turn to the Torah, read the rules, do what they say. (although, even in Judaism, there were and are numerous denominations, though nowhere near 38,000 of them)
The New Testament has no equivalent text. Nowhere in the New Testament do we find the complete set of rules and regulations neatly set out, chapter after chapter. Instead, scattered throughout these books (which were actually personal letters) are teachings, stories, advice, prayers, encouragement, admonishment, prophecy, poetry, etc. Could it be that this is intentional, that Christianity was NEVER meant to be reduced to a written code or a doctrinal creed or a rigid set of traditional practices? Could it be that in trying to turn Christianity into a written code, a doctrinal statement, a neatly organized set of rule and regulations, we have all made a hideous mess of it?
Could it be that Romans 7:6 already made this point, and we have somehow overlooked its significance? "But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." The new way of the Spirit. Not the old way of the written code. Consider the significance of this statement for a moment.
Could it be that, in fact, Christianity is simply about knowing Christ and becoming more like him? "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:18 And could it be that this process is a more fluid, personal, internal, relational process than the impersonal, rigid, external religion of the "written code?" Could it be?
I want to know Christ. I want to be more like Him. I want to treat others as he would treat them. To move and act and speak in this world as he would. To look like Him. To sound like Him. To resemble Him. I don't get there by gritting my teeth and forcing my behavior into a pale imitation of Him. In fact, I think He gets me there. Paul says we "are being transformed into his likeness." Note the passive verb. It is being done to us. God is doing it. The Spirit is bringing about this transformation (the new way of the Spirit). As we draw near to him, listen to Him, grow in relationship with him, he does the transforming. Fluid, personal, internal, relational.
Of course, I have my opinion on various doctrinal issues, church practices and traditions, but I hold them lightly. I might be wrong on any of them. Instead, I want to hold fast to Christ, the person, the One. I want to be like Him. Pharisees fought for their doctrines, traditions and religious practices. They shed the blood of heretics and "sinners" to protect them. On the other hand, Jesus shed his own blood, not for any of those things, but for the ones he loved. Us.
Interview with Brian McLaren
So, I really hate admitting to being a "fanboy" to just about anyone or anything. But, the truth of the matter is that Brian McLaren has had a huge impact on how I try to live out my faith. On countless occasions, his books give words to ideas and perspectives that I've struggled with reconciling in my mind.
A co-worker and I were talking and she was trying to pin me down on what I think and believe and how I came to this place in my life. I found this video that night and it seemed to illustrate a lot about what I think.
At the beginning of the interview McLaren discusses the book "A New Kind of Christian" which is still huge to me. At about the 11:50 minute point, he accurately describes a tension in my life that regularly brings up frustration to me.
It's about 30 minutes. You don't have to become a fanboy like me, but I would love to hear what other people think of this.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Whoa! Dirko can't make up his mind.
The mysterious "Dirko" tricked me. I started a blog, then discovered that this is the real blog, so I will just cut and paste what I wrote on the other blog onto this blog:
Why don’t I like blogging? I don’t know, but I don’t. I’ve blogged before but usually in character or with a very limited purpose in mind. I have a blog, for example, to track progress when I’m writing a novel. Yes, it is full of scintillating entries like “Finished chapter seventeen. Wrote 1200 words tonight.” Thrill-a-minute stuff, as you can imagine. Then there’s the blog I had once upon a time where I posted as “Cakey the Jacked-Up Clown.” That blog is better left buried on the interwebs somewhere. But anyway, the mysterious “Dirko” convinced me to make a blog, a real genuine blog full of actual opinions from the actual me. Even now, as I type, my flesh crawls at the notion! But I trudge on, Dear Reader.
So what is the purpose of this blog? To talk about stuff that matters, I suppose. Matters to me. Might not matter to others. I have been thinking about church a lot lately. Not surprising since I am a pastor, but I have been thinking about church even more than usual. I have been told that in Arkansas 25% of the population is in church on an average Sunday morning. Even taking into consideration sporadic church attenders, that still seems to suggest that there is a significant percentage of the population even in the Bible belt that has little or nothing to do with church.
At one time in my life (age 13 to age 21) I was one of those people. My family sort of gave up on church after some awful experiences (I’ll share some of those later), so I understand the mindset of folks who give up on church. Mind you, we did not give up on faith, although, to be honest, the faith of every single person in my family decayed more and more the longer we were outside the church. We gave up on church because we tired of 1) the pride of preachers, 2) the politics, 3) the lack of expectation, 4) the hypocrisy, NOT because we gave up on God. More detail on those later. I am referring to very specific experiences that we had at a variety of churches.
Maybe I am a cynic (although I tend to think of myself as an idealist) but it just seems so easy to play games and waste time in church. So much effort and time spent doing so little. I still believe and am looking for that church that is full of awe at the works of God, where everyone is gifted and called to minister the gospel, where the people are overflowing with the love of God. I think I am closer to that kind of church than ever. We can get there. God wants us to be there.
jeff
Why don’t I like blogging? I don’t know, but I don’t. I’ve blogged before but usually in character or with a very limited purpose in mind. I have a blog, for example, to track progress when I’m writing a novel. Yes, it is full of scintillating entries like “Finished chapter seventeen. Wrote 1200 words tonight.” Thrill-a-minute stuff, as you can imagine. Then there’s the blog I had once upon a time where I posted as “Cakey the Jacked-Up Clown.” That blog is better left buried on the interwebs somewhere. But anyway, the mysterious “Dirko” convinced me to make a blog, a real genuine blog full of actual opinions from the actual me. Even now, as I type, my flesh crawls at the notion! But I trudge on, Dear Reader.
So what is the purpose of this blog? To talk about stuff that matters, I suppose. Matters to me. Might not matter to others. I have been thinking about church a lot lately. Not surprising since I am a pastor, but I have been thinking about church even more than usual. I have been told that in Arkansas 25% of the population is in church on an average Sunday morning. Even taking into consideration sporadic church attenders, that still seems to suggest that there is a significant percentage of the population even in the Bible belt that has little or nothing to do with church.
At one time in my life (age 13 to age 21) I was one of those people. My family sort of gave up on church after some awful experiences (I’ll share some of those later), so I understand the mindset of folks who give up on church. Mind you, we did not give up on faith, although, to be honest, the faith of every single person in my family decayed more and more the longer we were outside the church. We gave up on church because we tired of 1) the pride of preachers, 2) the politics, 3) the lack of expectation, 4) the hypocrisy, NOT because we gave up on God. More detail on those later. I am referring to very specific experiences that we had at a variety of churches.
Maybe I am a cynic (although I tend to think of myself as an idealist) but it just seems so easy to play games and waste time in church. So much effort and time spent doing so little. I still believe and am looking for that church that is full of awe at the works of God, where everyone is gifted and called to minister the gospel, where the people are overflowing with the love of God. I think I am closer to that kind of church than ever. We can get there. God wants us to be there.
jeff
The Kingdom Experiment
I just discovered this book this morning: The Kingdom Experiment
Amazon says this:
The Kingdom Experiment is a challenge to live this kingdom intentionally. It won't be easy, and it may get uncomfortable. But if you commit to live what a carpenter started 2000 years ago, you too will experience the kingdom He spoke of.The point of The Kingdom Experiment is create community, and to share stories while we're at it; it's to help us grapple with what good news means in the context of our specific time and place. The Kingdom Experiment is an 8-week challenge, but who says it has to end there?
This is what we all need.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Jesus wants to save Christians
Under the product description at Amazon.com it describes this book this way:
"There is a church not too far from us that recently added a $25 million addition to their building.Our local newspaper ran a front-page story not too long ago about a study revealing that one in five people in our city lives in poverty. This is a book about those two numbers. "
I've read a book by Rob Bell called Velvet Elvis. I thought it was interesting, but the printing kind of annoyed me. A number of years ago, spent some time watching/discussing Nooma videos which are produced by Rob Bell and his church. I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan, but I like what I've heard. He seems to be very knowledgeble of the ancient Jewish society that Jesus was a part. Bell is always intent on trying to discover exactly what meaning actual hearers of Jesus' words would take.
I just discovered this book and found they have it on audio book at the Springdale library. Starting on Wednesday, I'll be making my morning and afternoon half-hour commute to Prairie Grove. I'm looking forward to "reading" the book. I'll let you know.
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