Wednesday, November 21, 2007

An Awakening

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Mathew 6:9-13


There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?
John 3:1-9


I drove to work that morning praying the Lord’s Prayer. I was completely oblivious as to what was about to happen. Looking back I can see that the Lord had prepared me for what he was about to do by making me more available to him. He did this in two distinct ways.

The first thing he did was free me from ministry obligations within my church. I had served as a teacher within my church for over 14 years when I was asked to step aside to allow others to teach the youth group and Sunday school class. In addition, a retired minister had joined our congregation and I was no longer needed to fill in for my pastor during our Sunday morning or mid-week services. In his kindness God had prepared me for this sudden change by telling me in prayer a year earlier that I would not always be teaching my Sunday school class. When that happens he had told me, don’t look within the church for another position to fill, but look outside the church for ministry.
I first asked God if he wanted to me start up some home Bible studies as I had often done in the past, but the Lord said no. Then I suggested writing a book or doing something on the Internet, but again the Lord said no. Very clearly I felt him tell me not to focus on educating people who were already Christian but to minister to those who were not yet his followers. To be honest I didn’t have a clue how to do this, nor did I know anyone else who did. I then felt the Lord direct me to take a look at what my brother’s and sisters outside my denomination were doing to reach the lost.

The second thing God did to make me more available to him was to deepen my commitment. If you knew me at that time you would probably say I was already committed to Christ. I know I certainly thought so. Does it seem odd to you that God would remove responsibility and obligation from off my shoulders and then ask for an even greater commitment? Yet that is exactly what happened.

While relaxing one evening before bed I picked a book at random from my bookshelf, opened it to the middle and began to read. The book had been given to me as a Christmas gift some years before but I had never gotten around to reading it. The author described our relationship to Christ as falling within one of three broad categories. We could be whole heartedly sold out to God with Jesus sitting solidly on the throne of our life, we could be without Christ with Self sitting solidly on the thrown of our life, or we could be trying to serve two masters in some sort of unworkable compromise where Christ and Self share or compete for the throne of our life.

Now, clearly I had to be the first type of person who had Christ solidly enthroned in their heart. Nevertheless, I felt God asking if there wasn’t anything in the other descriptions that I could identify with. I had to admit that maybe I wasn’t absolutely sold out. I mean I certainly gave my life to God, but I have always had a project I was working on whether it was a hobby or a dream of starting my own business – that diverted my emotional energy and competed for my time. I had two wills – mine and the Lords, and I was submitting mine to his but not always successfully. So I made a radical commitment. I prayed that his will would become my will, so we would have only one will to work with. I set down my hobbies and my dream of resurrecting a failed business venture. He now had my time, my will, my emotion and my mind. That commitment would be tested.

In fear of revealing too much immaturity I will admit that having made this “radical commitment” I expected God to respond in kind by giving me some great awesome work to do in his name. You can imagine my disappointment when God instead directed me to passages of scripture that instructed me to rest in him, and that he is the one who does the work. I was his project, and not the other way around. Instead of feeling joy and relief at these scriptures I can actually remember feeling frustrated because I wanted something to do. I the teacher clearly had a lot to learn.

And so I was driving to work one morning praying the Lord’s Prayer. As I did, I became fixated on “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done…” I prayed that God’s Kingdom would come to those who don’t know him. I asked why our church hadn’t grown above the 50-70 member size it has always been, and I asked what I could do to help make it grow. I prayed that God’s will would be done and his Kingdom would come, and not our own wills. I told God that I wanted to build his Kingdom and I asked him what he wanted me to do.

Then God answered me. He answered with this question. “Whose Kingdom are you building?” What? What? Whose Kingdom was I building? I was totally unprepared for what God began to show me within my own heart and within Scripture. Indeed, I was entering a tempest.

Nicodemus recognized Jesus as a teacher from God and came to acknowledge him. But he was totally unprepared for the complete change in thinking required to understand Jesus’ message. Nicodemus was a well-respected Bible teacher and a leader in the religious organization of his day. He had given his life to God and no doubt thought he was already advancing the Kingdom of God. But from Jesus’ point of view however, Nicodemus didn’t even know what the Kingdom of God was and he hadn’t yet entered it himself.

Like Nicodemus many of us know the Bible and are leaders within our churches. We believe we are building the Kingdom and advancing the cause of Christ. Like Nicodemus however, Jesus showed me that many of us have lost sight of what the Kingdom of God really is and therefore much of our efforts have more to do with building our own kingdoms than they do His. This is a hard saying to accept, and it caused no small amount of turmoil within my own heart.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Great Men of God

Several weeks ago I told my wife that God had given me clarity that like Abram we had left Ur, but got stalled in Haran instead of going to Canaan as we had been instructed. To this my wife replied, “You’re no Abraham.” A few days ago someone asked me for the details about how we were going to accomplish the work that God has called us to. I replied that when God sent out Paul and Barnabas they didn’t have a detailed plan about everything that was going to happen. God opened doors for them after they obeyed and went out. To this I was told, “Don’t compare yourself to Paul. You’re no Paul.” I’m currently reading a book in which the author happened to interview a man who advocates polygamy. The man suggested one way to convince your current wife to support adding additional wives was to show that the “great men” of the Bible had multiple wives.

I’ve finally had enough of this nonsense about “great men” of the Bible. There are no great men in the Bible. Let me say that again. There are no great men in the Bible. There are only ordinary men who had a great God. Because of the greatness of their God, they led extraordinary lives. Throughout scripture God repeatedly sought out the humble, weak and unqualified through whom he could show his greatness.

Not yet convinced? Have you ever cared more about what other’s thought than being true to what you knew was right? Guess what, you are like Peter. He refused to eat with the Gentiles as soon as brothers from Jerusalem came by – and Paul rebuked him for his hypocrisy. Have you ever been filled with righteous indignation and attacked others, only to find that you were in the wrong the whole time? Guess what, you are like Paul. He murdered Christians and forced them to blaspheme until he literally saw the light when Jesus knocked him down on the way to Damascus. Have you ever had trouble accepting the failures of others and giving them a second chance? Guess what, that’s Paul again. He refused to take John Mark with him on his second missionary journey because the young man didn’t see it through on the first journey. Barnabas, the man who risked his life to give Paul a second chance had to leave Paul’s company in order to do the same for John Mark.

The Bible clearly tells us that the stories of men and women in the Bible are for our instruction. We are to learn from their mistakes, as well as take comfort that God can still use us when we fail, even as he used them when they failed. And we are to follow their good example and glorify God with our lives as they did.

So let’s not quibble about little or great men. We are all ordinary men. But we have a great God. Let’s rejoice in him, and allow him accomplish great things in us.

Monday, November 12, 2007

If I Were to Write a Book

While I am finding it hard to write about the past, I am praying for God's inspiration to write about the message he has given me - the message that will define the future. A while ago I made a post in which I listed possible chapter headings if I ever wrote a book. As I actually set down to write notes for each chapter I realized that I first needed to explore what the Kingdom of God really is before I can contrast it with the kingdoms we often find ourselves creating. Below are the current chapter headings. I've got at least some notes written for each section and Lord willing, will actually write this message down.

WHOSE KINGDOM ARE WE BUILDING?

INTRODUCTION - An Awakening

I. THE KINGDOM OF GOD

1. The Tyranny of Self
2. The Kingdom Within
3. The Kingdom in Community
4. The Kingdom in the World
5. Being vs. Believing, Knowing or Doing

II. BUILDING THE KINGDOM

6. Church Growth - Our Metric of Success
7. Teaching vs Discipleship
8. Religious Obligation vs Spiritual Desire

III. AN HONEST LOOK

9. Has the Bible Become an Idol?
10. Leadership and the Church
11. Money and the Church
12. Church as a Business vs. Church as the Body of Christ

IV. BREAKING FREE

13. Looking at the Pharasee in the Mirror
14. Simply Be

I Can't Seem to Write

There's been a lot going on in my spiritual journey with some major changes about to happen, and yet I can't seem to write about it. I have several journal entries that I have tried to turn into blog posts but I simply lose interest in the attempt. Part of the reason is that writing is more work to me than it is a release. The biggest reason however is than most of these potential posts have to deal with the past, and I am bored with thinking about it. I'm ready to move on. I can't go forward looking back.

Just for fun however, I'll list some of the titles of these journal entries. Who knows, maybe one day I will turn one of them into a post.

My Own Post Secret

The Illusion of Unity

I Do Not Belong in Haran

I Hate Religion


Most recently, I can feel the Lord working to increase the grace and mercy I show others. I can see I've been more critical and judgemental than the pattern Christ is forming me into. Rather than tell you the types of situations in which I find it hard to show mercy and grace, I'll simply say that I'll be glad to be rid of a critical spirit.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Its Not About House Church

As I sat at a table sharing a meal with men and women whom God has raised up as leaders in what are commonly called house churches, one man turned to me and asked, “How did you discover house church?” I paused for a minute and then answered his question. As I heard each of the others describe their own journeys I realized that I had been asked and had answered the wrong question.

I am very interested in house church or simple church, and may very well become involved in starting one. However, house church is not the message God has given me. I have not had a revelation of house church, nor do I champion simple church as the best model of church. In fact, I’ve become bored with the whole discussion about models of doing church. The message God gave me is valid regardless of the model or package that we put the church into.

So why am I so interested in house church? Because the men and women I’ve found who have heard the same message I have are the very ones that are starting house churches. Because the message I received has been rejected by the pastor of our local church without any appeal to scripture. Because God has told us that it is time for us to go, but is leading us not to find a new church home but to allow him to create a new one from the harvest. Because simple church offers the greatest hope for us to avoid building a kingdom unto ourselves and hence recreate the very thing God is calling us out of.

So what is the message I received? What is the message that has so shaken me and transformed my spiritual worldview? Here is my best attempt to compress it down to a 30 second sound bite.

Simply Be. To be what God is transforming me into. To yield to his touch and hold the form. To rest in him, be content in him, end striving, to hear his voice and be ready and willing to obey – even if I don’t see a big picture and I don’t take ownership of what God is having me do.

To see the Kingdom of God increase and our own kingdoms decrease. To see the reality of the Kingdom of God manifested not in doctrinal beliefs, Biblical knowledge or activities done in his name, but in who and what we are and are becoming in Christ. To disciple new believers instead of just teaching or preaching to them. To equip the body of Christ for ministry instead of making them dependent on our ministry. To cast off the shackles of religious obligation in order to embrace a life of walking in the spirit by faith. To honor the Word of God by letting it speak to us and mold us instead of speaking for it and molding it. To Simply Be.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Yearning

"I can’t tell you how much I yearn for a church where the leadership doesn’t lord it over the flock, but is part of the flock themselves; where the corrupting influence of money and power are taken away; where we all have a right to speak up and question if something is taught that contradicts the Bible; where each person is free to be what God is growing them to be."

I wrote these words almost one year ago. They still express the deep longing of my soul.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Sign me up

"I will not quarrel with you about my opinions; only see that your heart is right toward God, that you know and love the Lord Jesus Christ; that you love your neighbor, and walk as your Master walked, and I desire no more. I am sick of opinions; am weary to bear them; my soul loathes this frosty food. Give me solid and substantial religion; give me a humble, gentle lover of God and man; a man full of mercy and good faith, without partiality and without hypocrisy; a man laying himself out in the work of faith, the patience of hope, the labor of love. Let my soul be with these Christians wheresoever they are, and whatsoever opinion they are of."

- John Wesley


Amen. I can so relate. Sometimes however, we are so convinced of the truth of our opinions that we do not realize that is what they are. Notice how Wesley calls our attention to love, mercy, faith and humility. What fruit do our opinions produce?

Friday, September 21, 2007

Food for Thought

The following excerpt was taken from a book by Edwin Hatch [1888] and makes an interesting observation. I found this at the Christ is All blog where a lengthier citation is given. If you'd like to read the rest check it out here..

It is impossible for any one, whether he be a student of history or no, to fail to notice the difference and contrast between the Sermon on the Mount and the Nicene Creed.
The Sermon on the Mount is the promulgation of a new law of conduct; it assumes beliefs rather than formulates them; the theological conceptions which underlie it belong to the ethical rather than the speculative side of theology; metaphysics are totally absent.The Nicene Creed is a statement partly of historical facts and partly of dogmatic inferences; the metaphysical terms which it contains would probably have been unintelligible to the first disciples; ethics have no place in it. The one belongs to a world of Syrian peasants, the other to a world of Greek philosophers.
[Why] an ethical sermon stood out in the forefront of the teaching of Jesus Christ, and a metaphysical creed in the forefront of the Christianity of the fourth century, is a problem which claims investigation…

Quote of the Day

We have felt a lot less emphasis on "what we're going to do in life" and a lot greater desire to be the man/woman, father/mother, husband/wife that God desires us to be


This was a comment on a blog I was reading. I copied it to my personal journal, but forgot to note who wrote it and where I found it. I've thought about what I'm going to do with my life since 7th grade. Recent changes in my life have brought this question to the front once again. The wisdom in these words spoke directly to me and reinforced what God has been trying to get me to understand these past few years. Simple Be. Being is more important than believing, knowing or doing. What we are is more important than our accomplishments. Our accomplishments will pass away, but what we are is eternal.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Can the Bible be our creed?

The other night I was able to drop by and participate in a friend's house church. After the meeting he mentioned that he was thinking about writing down a statement of beliefs for the church. The church was born in his home about two years ago and has already grown into two churches that meet in his home at different days of the week. It would seem to make perfect sense to write down the core beliefs that this gathering of believers hold in common and consider essential. In fact whenever I'm on vacation or attend a church with a friend or family member I usually pickup a copy of their statement of faith just out of curiosity. For some reason however, when my friend told me his intention to write just such a statement I became uneasy.

I wrote him an email a couple days later in which I explored my concerns. To be honest I was really surprised at how strongly I felt about this - almost embarrassed by how strongly I felt. After further reflection however I think I realize that if I take these creeds seriously, they would separate me from a body of believers that I have come to appreciate. Having reached out and been blest by fellow Christians outside of the box of my denomination, I'm not eager to withdraw behind those walls again. Here is what I wrote:

Why do you feel you should write down a creed or doctrinal position statement? What do you hope that will accomplish?

I ask these questions because I’m a little concerned. Historically, creedal statements were made after growth periods and were used to “settle” doctrinal conflicts within the church. Rather than settling the issues however they created divisions (or highlighted existing divisions and set them in concrete).

One of the dynamics of house / organic church is that the Holy Spirit is drawing people together from different denominations. God is drawing people in certain directions and revealing truths that are not welcome in “institutional” churches. People are drawn out or thrust out of their churches and are now gathering together with others who share their spiritual experience and revelation, but not their doctrinal background.

This is exactly what happened a century ago when God began baptizing people with his Spirit. Tongues, supernatural healing and words of prophecy scared the leadership of the “mainline” churches. When people shared what God was doing in their lives with others in their churches, they were forced out. Sermons were preached about how those who spoke in tongues were of the devil or deceived – in a similar way that house church is sometimes condemned in many “institutional” churches today. These people met together in homes for fellowship because they were unwanted everywhere else. Here were Baptists, Methodists and Episcopalians, worshiping together because of their common experience and belief in the power of God’s Spirit. These believers are the predecessors of all the Pentecostal and Charismatic groups today. Succeeding generations in the “main line” churches of that day eventually came around because the spiritual vitality of these believers couldn’t be refuted. In time they sought to find a way to embrace this move of the Spirit in ways they could incorporate into their existing theologies. If house church / organic church demonstrate a similar spiritual vitality and multiply, then I’m sure “institutional” churches will attempt to embrace those parts of it that they can integrate into their existing theology. As these Pentecostal groups grew they sought a way to organize or affiliate with each other, as they needed government recognition for certain things. They did so, but in time doctrinal divisions formed and doctrinal debates ensured. Creeds were then established that splintered the Pentecostal movement. But originally, it was just people with varied doctrinal backgrounds worshiping together because of a common participation in a move of God.

I say all that because I was hoping the believers who share the house church / organic church calling and experience could relish the unity of the body of Christ a little longer before they begin drawing boxes around themselves. Could the Bible be our creed? Could we admit that we are all still growing and learning and be open to the beliefs of others than can be clearly articulated from scripture? Would a creed really be of any assistance in reigning in doctrinal error? How good have other creeds been at accomplishing this? What makes us so competent at distilling the essential interpretations of scripture that we don’t trust succeeding generation to be able to do so? Does the body of Christ need creeds, or are they primarily for the survival of religious organizations as they help divide the greater body and then unify a sliver of it? I don’t have all the answers my friend. Perhaps it’s not even possible to avoid written creeds and let the Bible be our creed and our lives our interpretation of it. I think however, that I am going to try.

Friday, June 29, 2007

A Reply

I'm not sure why, but it is sometimes easier to write in response to a friend's question or comment that it is to sit down and write a blog entry. My friend Keith recently sent me an email to vent about frustration he was experiencing and bounce some ideas off me. He was so impressed with my reply that he asked permission to post it on his blog.

You can read it here.

A Dream

I'm not one who normally tries to interpret dreams. I'm not particulary adept at recognizing and interpretting symbols, and I doubt whether most dreams have a meaning anyway. Lately however, my wife has been having what she describes as "weird dreams." When she tells them to me however I immediately see a clear spiritual message to us and the church at large, that she herself did not see. Below is one such dream. I'll resist the temptation of telling you what I think it means. What do you think?

Our pastor called a leader’s meeting at a nice hotel. My wife did not want to go, but she went because it was important to me. The meeting was held in the restaurant at the top of the hotel. While we were discussing church business, my wife noticed a large group of people had gathered on the balcony outside and were throwing themselves off the building to their death. She was distraught and tried to get us to help, but all the church leaders (including myself) simply looked the other way and continued the meeting.

Finally my wife went out to the balcony to try to get the people to stop jumping off the building. They explained that were killing themselves because no one loved them. My wife insisted that she loved them and she was able to save many of them from committing suicide.

She returned to the leaders meeting in time to hear the pastor invite us all to go skinny dipping. Everyone was eager to go, but my wife freaked out and tried to get everyone to see what a sin that would be – but no one listened. Finally as she continued making a scene the pastor’s wife took her aside and explained that it was Biblical quoting a single word from a verse to make her point. Despite all her protests, my wife was unable to stop us.

Just then she realized that our son was not with her. She searched everywhere for him but could not find him. Finally she forced me to leave the leaders meeting and go look for him. Not finding him, I gave up and returned to the leaders meeting (yes, I’m not the hero of this dream). She then continued frantically looking for him until one of the people she had saved on the balcony came and asked her what was wrong. When she explained that her son was lost, all the people she had saved banded together and hundreds of people searched for him. Our son was found, all alone and crying in a corner. Then she awoke.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Orthodoxy

"There is nothing unorthodox about what is in the Bible."
- Grady Hancock

My grandfather spoke these words when I called him years ago to explain that I was mailing him a handkerchief that my church had anointed with oil when we had prayed for him to be healed. I explained that it might seem unorthodox to him, but that the book of James taught anointing with oil when praying for the sick, and the book of Acts mentioned that Paul had sent handkerchiefs to sick people he couldn’t visit and they were made well. While the Bible didn’t specifically teach us to send handkerchiefs to sick people 1,500 miles away, it didn’t say we couldn’t follow Paul’s example either.

My grandfather’s response – a lifelong Lutheran – was immediate and firm. “There is nothing unorthodox about what is in the Bible.”

These words by my grandfather have been burned into my memory. They serve as both confirmation and guide to my approach to living the spiritual life. I need not apologize for believing or obeying the Bible. The Word of God trumps any doctrine, theology or creed. They bow to the Bible, not the other way around.

The words of my grandfather have rung in my ears afresh over the past two years, as God has shown me powerful things in his Word that conflict with our church culture and theology. They have helped give me the strength to believe God, even in the face of opposition from the household of faith.

The Role of Teacher in a House Church

Some time ago I felt God instructing me to look at what my brothers and sisters outside of my church were doing to spread the Gospel. This led to my discovery and investigation of cell church, purpose driven church and organic / house church organizational structures. I learned valuable lessons from each of these types of churches, but of these I was most impressed with what was possible with the Organic or house church.

I haven't written about this investigation before because explaining it is actually a little boring. Spiritual life does not come from an organizational model - it comes from a living connection to Jesus Christ. At best these ways of organizing a local body of believers can be seen as a way to support and encourage the development of that spiritual life. At worst, they are a hinderance to true spiritual development. The organic or house church model has the advantage of almost zero organizational overhead, complete empowerment of each person in the church to use the gifts God has given them to minister to others, and the ability to grow and spread naturally and easily into almost any environment. However, many of the organizational norms of doing church don't apply to house churches. One of these is the role of the teacher. As a teacher, this is something that I wanted to get a handle on. Besides praying the meditating on this topic, I decided to write to a missionary house church planter that is starting churches among the unbelieving population of India. Here is a copy of that correspondence"

How does a teacher equip the saints for the work of the ministry in a house church setting?

I wholeheartedly agree that dialog, reasoning, and questions are all necessary for effective learning, and that a monologue often leaves people with the same unanswered questions and doubts for years, and if the speaker errs no-one can correct him. I also know that people can learn from the thoughts and experiences of other saints if only they were allowed to speak.

However, I still have difficulty understanding how someone gifted as a teacher can use that gift to equip the church in a house church setting. In the house church I visited, each person was able to bring a thought or need to share, and the group discussed it. It was refreshing. In this setting the best thing a teacher could do is keep his mouth shut and let people work out the answer for themselves - stepping in only occasionally. If the teacher was ever perceived as the guru with all the answers it would kill the whole dynamic and learning would actually decrease. I can understand that. I also understand that people can learn by seeing the Word of God modeled in the lives of those around them. But I can't help wonder how new believers would come to know the Bible if it is not taught directly - or asked another way, what is the role of the teacher in a house church?



Dear Brent,

You have my sympathy as I am also a teacher by gifting and have a great struggle to believe that the Holy Spirit can guide people to learn with very little monologue from me.

The role of the teacher is more of a facilitator and guiding the discussion and dialogue in such a way that it becomes fruitful and does not end in strife.

As my wife and I deal with a lot of seekers and non-literate first generation Christians who come from other faiths, it is amazing how these babes in faith come out with astonishing revelations and perceptions, which we often miss.

Reading your letter I am encouraged that you have the correct paradigm. Just practice it and see, what the Lord can do.

Shalom,

V.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Learning to Rest

Its amazing how hard something so easy can be. Simply Be.

I’ve struggled with wanting to DO something for God and I feel like I’m not doing anything worthwhile. Why hasn't God given me the next set of instructions? If God want's us to leave our current fellowship, then when and where do we go? Simply Be.

I’ve struggled with knowledge – trying to understand difficult passages of scripture and see where they fit in the overall message of scripture. Simply Be.

I’ve struggled with frustration at rejection and misunderstanding by others who seem not to care about the truths God has shown me in scripture. A little knowledge gets me all upset. Simply Be.

I've struggled with concerns about my job - the type of game I'm being asked to make, the layoffs I've survived but my friends haven't, the long commute and long working hours, and the inner certainty that its time to move on, but not knowing what to move on to. Simply Be.

I’m constantly in motion, searching, thinking, and striving – when God wants to teach me how to be at rest. To sit at his feet and love him in perfect peace, and let raging storms be something that's only on the outside of me, and not on the inside. God could end my struggling in a moment by simply giving me the direction, knowledge and favor I seek. He'd rather end my struggling by teaching me to rest. All these irritants are really just that. God knew that by giving me knowledge without direction, I'd tear myself up. Now that I've experienced that he wants to teach me to take trust to a new level. The same God who provided knowledge will provide direction and timing. Until he does he wants to provide himself a refuge of peace and serenity. Simply Be.

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Monday, April 30, 2007

Whose Kingdom are We Building?

I have come to realize that everything God has taught me over the past two years is tied together by a single theme and composes a single message. It is this message that has overthrown my spiritual worldview and shaken me to the core. All things had to be re-evaluated in light of this message. A torrent of emotion has raged in me and is passing through me, and would have destroyed me but for the grace of God.

This message was God's answer to a series of questions I had asked in prayer. I initially asked why our church wasn't growing and hadn't grown in years. I prayed for His kingdom and His will, and prayed that my own will and His would be one. I expected that having offered my will so completely and having prayerfully beseeched him on behalf of His own kingdom, that God would tell me some great thing that I could go do in order to build his kingdom and grow the church. Instead he took me into the biggest spritual storm of my life.

I have considered writing about this many times, but have refrained from doing so. Considering the waves of emotion flowing through me I didn't think I could present the message with the proper balance of boldness and love it required. I also didn't feel God compelling me to do so. I needed to fully internalize the message myself before preaching it to others, lest I transfer my burden to them instead of being changed myself.

If I were to write that book however, it would be titled "Whose Kingdom are We Building?" Below are the chapters it would contain.

Church Growth or Church Growth - our metric of success

Teaching vs. Discipling

Being vs. Knowing, Believing or Doing


Leadership and the Church

Money and the Church

Church as a Business vs. Church as the Body of Christ


Religious Obligation vs. Spiritual Desire

Looking a Pharasee in the Mirror

Do We Really Believe the Bible is God's Word?


The Tale of Two Kingdoms

Simply Be

Thursday, April 26, 2007

When We Gather Together

“Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.
For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” Matthew 18: 19-20

That is church. Fellow believers gathering together with Jesus to encourage and build up one another in their faith and walk with God.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:23-25
Christian’s need one another. We are not to go it alone. We are to encourage and build up one another to continue in the faith and grow in our faith. The scripture is full on “one another” passages. We are to love one another, bare with one another, care for one another, pray for one another.

How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.
If anyone speaks in a tongue,
let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.
Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. But if
anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
1 Corinthian 14: 26-33
We assemble together to encourage and build each other up in our common faith. We do this by coming to the meeting ready to share a song, teaching, revelation, interpretation of tongues or prophecy that God has given us that will benefit the others.

The scripture is simple, clear, loving and peaceful on this topic. The difficulty is that our church culture makes it difficult to obey the scripture. We assemble together, but do not speak to one another other than a greeting as we find our seats facing a stage. We listen to one person speak the whole time, without questions or comments. If the Holy Spirit were to reveal something to us during the message we cannot say it. Instead we are instructed to make an appointment with the minister to share it with him privately. Instead of taking turns as Paul taught, our silence is supposed to keep everything decent and in order. If we appear bored, it is not because we have lost a love for God or his word. Please understand that we have heard the same man give a monologue about the same things literally for years – even decades. If we required a high school student to repeat their freshmen year for 10 years and we don’t allow them to ask questions or help teach other students they too would appear bored. We assemble, not because we are being built up or because we are able to build up others – but primarily out of duty – we want to do the right thing. After the message we pray or sing as a group and then go home.

Sometimes the Lord does speak to our hearts during the message and meets a need. Other times a brother or sister will come up to us after church and give a personal message to us that the Lord had put on their hearts. Sometimes we will feel compelled to pray with someone individually at the close of service and God will meet a need.

Also, please don’t misunderstand – the man who is speaking is not wrong or evil or inherently boring. I’ve been that man at times, and while I attempt to foster more interaction in my messages the format and expectations lead to the same result. Each of us has something to give. After we’ve given it, we can only give it again and again. God has not given any of us everything that everyone else will need. Instead, he has distributed his gifts among all of us.

Please don’t blame us if we feel spiritually frustrated and unfulfilled. Please don’t blame us if we vacillate between an intense desire to DO something for God and use our gifts, and an apparent apathy as we meet resistance and are directed to do our duty by serving as an audience in a religious service that feels like repeating our freshman year one more time.

But we want to please God, we want to grow, we want to be all God has called us to be. We don’t want to be rebellious, cause division or tear apart the church. But we don’t want to die spiritually either. We don’t want to waste our lives and all God has invested in us as we rot in a rut of religious ritual.

“For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” Romans 12: 3-8
One by one people are searching the scripture for answers and crying out to God in prayer. The Holy Spirit is drawing people to obey the scriptures and become the church he created them to be. Christians are finding themselves drawn into small gatherings of believers where each can minister to the others and all can use their gifts. They openly admit they don’t have all the answers about where they are going, but are simply trying to do what the Holy Spirit tells them. Some call this Organic church, Simple church or House church. But it doesn’t seem like church. They meet in homes not a church building. There is usually singing and music, but even children can bring an instrument and join in. There is no pastor running the service and doing the speaking, yet it is quite common for several members to have extensive pastoral or teaching experience. There are no tithes, but they give generously to the poor and pool their resources to help members in need. But is it church? Is it rebellion?

“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

A Dangerous Question

Me: "Father, why is our church not growing? "

God: "Whose Kingdom are you building?"

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Easter

We went to an Easter play at my sister-in-law's church. While watching the play I was struck by the profound trajedy of Judas' personal weakness and failure. At intermission I grabbed a pen and paper and wrote out the following question:

Who would sell out a man to death for the price of a new car? Who would sell out a close friend? Who would sell out their Lord and King - for, for mere money?

Judas - so close to the light, yet so full of darkness. I wonder if Jesus had him in mind when he taught that if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness. Judas - who was one of the twelve chosen apostles. Judas who was paired up with another disciple when sent out two by two - working miracles by the power of Jesus name. Judas - who was trusted with the finances of Jesus' ministry.

The story of Judas is enough to make anyone fear. When told that one of their number would betray him the other disciples asked "is it me?" If Judas could have been so close to the light and yet failed so miserably, where does that leave you and me? Only Peter and John were confident enough that they asked instead - "who is it?" Of course only a few hours later Peter also failed his Lord in a graphic demonstration of human weakness.

Pilate also struck me by his personal weakness and failure. He believed Jesus to be innocent and declared him as such, yet had him beaten anyway. He even tried to release him at one point. Then in fear and frustration he acquiessed and ordered him to be crucified - all to appease a group of people that he personally dispised. Such weakness and failure.

When they led Jesus to be crucified, I had to close my eyes and I heard myself calling "No, no." I was not man enough to watch even the renactment of what my Lord had to actually endure. I should have died for him, not him for me. For me there is no greater shame than to know that my Lord was cruicified for me - and there is no greater reason to love him.

The resurection - what hope. Because he lives, I live. The power of the risen Christ - in me, and with me and for me - and I for him.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

The Old Paths

NOTE: I discovered this while going through some old journal notes. I wrote this in December 06, but never got around to posting it. I thought I'd share it. Reading through this again today I think I may have missed an important point. Perhaps the old godly paths are not so much our doctrines, but our godly lifestyle - again being over knowledge.


This is what the Lord says:
“Stop at the crossroads and look around.
Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it.
Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.
But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’
Jerimiah 6:16 NLT


The sermon last night was an exhortation for us to return to the "old ways." I found myself being somewhat conflicted by it. For my pastor, returning to the old ways meant staying true to the doctrines you have been taught, and trusting in the wisdom of the pastorate.

My difficulty began when I realized that some of those doctrines I have been taught (and have taught others) have no Bilbical support, and in some cases even contradict the clear teaching of scripture. Once the Biblical foundation beneath these doctrinal pillars was shown to be lacking, I began to wonder what other doctrines I had been taught were in error. Everything became suspect. This was a very uncomfortable position to be in.

It occured to me during the sermon that each denomination would interpret the "old paths" differently. For Pentecostals it may mean repentance, baptism in Jesus name and receiving the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues. For Catholics it might be the rosery, confession, and faith in the Pope or apostalic succession. Perhaps we all need to reach a little further back when returning to the old godly paths. Perhaps we should reach clear back to Jesus himself and the teachings of his apostles - that is, perhaps we should reach back to the Bible, which testifies of Jesus.

We study the Bible and then build doctrines based on scripture. We then teach those doctrines, boldly proclaim them, defend them and debate them. Those that follow our teaching then believe those doctrines based primariy on our own authority and their faith in us. Sure, we quote select scriptures that demonstrate the validity of our doctrine, but many skip over or explain away scriptures that don't fit our doctrine very well. Since students only remember a small percentage of what they are taught, what are they likely to remember - our oft repeated doctrine, or the scriptures we use to support it. The result is that we believe a whole number of things and repeat them to each other without really knowing what the Bible actually has to say about the subject. This makes us rigid, defensive and fragile.

I believe this was one of the primary weakness of the Pharasees. They had an entire "church culture," an entire series of beliefs spawned from the scriptures, but were not the scriptures themselves. Their doctrines were far more rigid than the scripture itself, and it lacked the scripture's power and purpose. Thus they would allow a priest to minister on the sabbath, but would stone a prophet for performing a miraculous healing on the sabboth. They would pull an ox out of a pit on the sabbath, but not suffer a lame man to be healed.

What would happen if we taught the Bible instead of our doctrines? What would happen if we maximized the authority of Jesus and the scripture and minimized our own authority? What would happen if we taught those parts of scripture that we really don't understand and admitted as much instead of teaching our best guess as if its the authoritative explanation?

I'm actually trying this out in two different settings., and the results are interesting. The first group is a weekly meeting consisting mostly of high school students. I asked the class to read through a book of the Bible at the rate of five chapters a week. During class I would encourage the class to share insights they discovered and to ask questions. I asked them to purchase a New Living Translation to make this reading easier. Reading rates were at first quite high, but then dropped off. Students were not as comfortable sharing insights as they were asking questions, though they sometimes had profound answers to each other's questions.

Student questions tended to gravitate toward the most difficult passages of scripture that even scholars only suggest possible interpretations. They probably gravitated toward these passages because they are normally completely ignored by pastors and teachers. It was totally new to them. To this I offered both a short and a long answer. The short answer was that I didn't know the answer. The long answer was a discussion of the possible explanations that scholars, pastors and teachers have suggested. This clearly frustrated some students who wanted to be told the right answer to memorize, and who considered it a waste of time to think about the meaning and implications of something you cannot conclusively answer.


So why would this lesson trouble me? Having seen that some of the old ways I had been taught are false, I know I can never go back to them. Yet the path that I am to take now is not entirely clear. It's probably the same old uncertainty of the future and fear of making a mistake. There is also a certain danger and fear when questioning the foundations you are standing on. This lesson effectively warned me of the perils of leaving the foundations that I now know to be faulty. This resonated with my fear.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Packaging Truth

While driving to work this morning I was listening to a preacher on the radio. He reiterated a common concern among church leaders. He said that the first generation of a church (or religious movement) has a hunger for God and for his Word, and labors to understand the scriptures and develop doctrines. The second generation defends these truths and doctrines and works hard to extend them. The third generation however is passive. They don’t value the doctrines because they haven’t worked for them. They seem to miss the whole point of church and have no zeal. While he didn’t do so, I’ve often heard the dilemma of the third generation described in terms of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or David, Solomon and Rehoboam – where in each case the spiritual life and character of the 3rd generation paled in comparison to the first.

How do you tell a man who has spent much of his life becoming “the” authority on scripture and systematizing doctrine that much of his efforts have been misguided? His purpose wasn’t to systematize truth and teach truth, but to live the truth, embody the truth, teach a love for the truth, and a desire for God. By becoming THE authority on scripture who has done all the seeking and searching for the next generation, what place is left for the young person – what unexplored territory exists for the young adventurer? If the whole world has been settled and is tamed how can you bemoan that there are no brave explorers in the next generation? Where’s the romance in memorizing a book of facts? The romance is in the digging, the searching, and the daring exploration.

Life in the spirit is not like scientific knowledge. In math, one explorer discovered algebra. Another person may have taken algebra and added Calculus. Another may have taken calculus and added trigonometry. And so each person’s work was built upon the work of those who preceded him. While that is how science progresses it is not how spiritual life works. Spiritual life isn’t about knowledge – it’s about a relationship with God. A young man may see a beautiful girl and ask all his friends about her, but he will never know her unless he takes a step toward her and speaks to her for himself. Should he choose to love her and make it his life’s ambition to cherish her and know her, no amount of books could convey the truth that is their relationship together. Every person must explore God and embark on life’s adventure with Him for themselves.

Another part of the problem is that when we systematize truth into theology is can become a straight jacket to the next generation. It becomes a series of fences that we don’t want them to cross, and a box that we don’t expect them to think outside of. Therefore they can never hope to go beyond us. Yet the scriptures are much more vibrant, deep and even ambiguous than our theology. But what if we missed something? What if God wants to take them where we ourselves have not gone? Perhaps we should teach the next generation a love for the scriptures and an appreciation of our theological discoveries, rather than a love for our theological discoveries with an appreciation of the scriptures.

Lastly, the third generation can become intimidated by the “greatness” of our stature and the length of our shadow. Yet when we started out we had no greatness or shadow - just humility, ignorance and a hunger for truth and for God. Perhaps we could build God up more and ourselves less. Ultimately its really about introducing each generation to God, and not about passing on our own legacy.

Truth

I want to know the truth,
God wants me to be the truth.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Greatness

I want to be someone great.
God wants me to be someone great.
We don't mean the same thing.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Understanding the scriptures

Understanding. Gestalt. Seeing the whole and grasping in your mind the wholeness of it and how it all comes together and works together. Spiritual gestalt is very hard to achieve because of our scriptural citation methods. Knowing the individual verses of scripture and how to weave them together to tell a story or communicate a truth is powerful and important – but also severely limiting. The Bible as a collection of verses and stories from which to draw is only a shadow of what it truly is. Much division and controversy in the church is caused not by what the Bible does or does not say, but by our handling of it. Different groups treasure different individual verses while skipping over others. Thus different groups can quote from the same book in the Bible, even using some of the same verses and yet do so in support of opposing ideas. There have been times in fact where I have heard a sermon preached from one verse, that could have been completely overturned had the preacher simply read the next verse.

To achieve true understanding of scripture however, we must mature past seeing collections of individual verses of scripture, to seeing each book as a whole. I am currently studying Romans (I’m actually listening to it in the car over and over again). Within Romans are individual verses that, standing alone, are contradictory. This does not mean that the book of Romans contradicts itself. In fact, we humans use language in the same way all the time. We hold up opposing ideas, we compare and contrast them, we describe different aspects of a more complex whole – and none of these individual parts accurately explain the whole of a concept we are trying to communicate.

Communication…that’s what we must remember the writers were trying to do. They wanted – or God wanted to communicate something to us. We must hear them and him out completely if we are to have any chance of understanding what God is trying to tell us. If we just hear portions of the conversation, we will almost certainly misunderstand.

We hear the words a person says. We consider the meaning of those words. Then beyond that, we must understand what the person is actually trying to communicate, and finally, why.

We must learn to look beyond the mere words a person says to what they mean by those words. Without the greater context of the whole book however, how can we possibly do that?

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Knowledge

We know far less than we think we know.
We understand far less than we do know.
We live even less than that.