The Story of I am Not

New Blog Series!!!

Hey Guys,

    Check out my new blog series entitled:  Behind the Music:  A 52 Week Bible Study.  Beginning this Friday, April 9, 2010, I will be looking at a different song every Friday and exposing the biblical truth found within the melody.  I will be looking at both secular and sacred music.  I will cover everything from 80's Rock to Southern Gospel.  Tune in each week to see what truth we can find in these amazing songs.  I pray that God will open our eyes and hearts to some new insight into our favorite songs.  I would also like to dialog with you about the posts each week.  Send me an email or post a response right here on the blog page.  God bless and I look forward to where this journey will take us.

Book Review: Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures

In Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures, Gibbs and Bolger The only way the church is going to turn the tide of Postmodern is be proactive and critically engage it.  This is the approach that makes the most sense biblically.  Jesus chose to fully engage the people of His time.  He took the time to ask the tough questions.  He always asked the questions that would go way beyond the surface.  As pastors, we need to know what our students are involved in and ask the tough questions.  For example, this summer I did a message series called “MySpace”  We took six weeks to look at the who, what, when, where, why, and how of MySpace.  MySpace is an internet blog site where students can set up a profile, post media, and blogs about themselves.  As I began to research this topic, I looked for our students that had a MySpace account, and I was shocked.  Some of the students had revealing photos, lied about their age, and used profanity fluently.  I e-mailed these students and asked to be added to their friends list.  Within one hour, I had a student at my house. He asked,” How did you find out about MySpace?  He was embarrassed that I had found his site.  He puts on a very spiritual front at church, but his site was far from it.  Others were excited that I took time to enter their world.  If we critically engage the post-modern world, we will truly see change.  As youth pastors, we must lead the charge in an evangelical revolution to reach a lost generation.  In our reading we had several examples of how to engage postmodernism.

     They looked at the importance of developing a Postmodern theology.  They help the reader discover how each person through the truth of God’s word, denominational ties, church tradition, and experience develop the basis for their theology.  They close with several methods of developing a sound theology that will communicate the truths of God and reach the Postmodern mind.

Jesus came into the human culture in order to serve.  John’s gospel gives us the idea of Incarnational ministry which can lead us into cross-cultural ministry.  By becoming like Christ, we will be open to cross-cultural interaction and ministry.  Christ moved out of His culture to talk to the Samaritan woman in John 4.  It was not the normal for Jews to associate with Samaritans.  But there was Jesus, moving beyond the norm.  We also can see this example of Jesus moving from place to place.  He didn’t stay in the town He was born, but He moved beyond.  His ministry continued throughout different communities.

In order to fulfill God’s missionary purpose we need to join Him where He is working.  It should not be a sense of duty, but a passion for those who are lost.  We should have such a passion for God’s glory to be revealed that we willing to go to great lengths to share with others.  We should have the purist of motives and work together to accomplish the task.  We should integrate evangelism and social interaction into every event we plan.  Our passion should be like a wild fire that spreads when fanned by the wind of the Holy Spirit.

The Message of the Gospel declares the victory that Jesus had over death, Satan, and sin.  They were each defeated by His first coming, and will be destroyed at His final coming.  Our mission as Christians is to share the Gospel with the entire world.  We make up God’s Kingdom on earth, and we have been given the mission to enlarge the borders by bringing others to a saving knowledge of Him.  Prayer is our weapon against Satan, through prayer we can undo Satan’s work in the lives of believers.  Prayer will help us to know where God is working, and we can join Him there in Kingdom work.

The biblical meaning of Kingdom is the right to rule, rather than referring to royally-owned interstate.  The Kingdom of God refers to the exercise of His authority, and His right to rule based on His might, power, and glory.  The mystery of the Kingdom of God is that the Messiah would not just come once but twice.  The kingdom has already arrived in Christ’s coming.  It has been established in the heart of every believer.  Jesus has given us the task of enlarging the Kingdom through sharing the Gospel and being on mission for Him.  The second coming will be a time of judgment in which He will purge the earth of sin and evil.

The Kingdom of God is achieving a progressive victory over satanic forces to rescue people of all nations from the power of sin in their lives.  Christ’s first coming destroyed Satan’s power base, and Jesus won victory over sin, death, and hell.  Between His comings, we the church are working to undone Satan’s work on earth.  The second coming of Christ will destroy Satan, and Christ will come in His full glory to judge the earth and establish His Kingdom.

In order for God’s Kingdom to continue to grow, we need to be in a state of constant prayer.  Our prayers need to be specific and strategic.  We need to pray for people to be delivered from idolatry and strongholds in their lives.  Prayer is not some mystical magic, but it a source of communication with God.  It allows us to be in tune with His Kingdom purpose, become equipped for every good work.  We also need to pray for those who have never heard the Gospel.  Our prayers will prepare the way for the gospel to be shared and received.

The establishment of God Kingdom requires us to go to battle.  We do not battle against flesh and blood, but against the evil forces of this world.  Satan was defeated by Christ’s death on the cross, but he still tries to wreak havoc on those who believe.  Satan tries to prevent us from sharing the gospel.  We must put on the full armor of God, and stand strong because the King of Kings and Lord of Lords goes before us in this spiritual battle.

    Jesus came to provide grace and mercy for mankind.  He came to establish His kingdom in the hearts of men.  He taught that His mercy and forgiveness was for all nations.  Because of He did not come in with an iron fist, He was killed.  The people misunderstood how the kingdom of God would be established.  They knew when the Messiah came, he would establish His kingdom, and it would have no end.  They assumed it would be by force and not by grace and mercy.

Jesus acted with a strategic purpose.  He wanted to create a dynamic, multiplying movement capable of evangelizing the world.  He chose to reveal the gospel first to the Jewish people.  Many rejected Him, but there were some who embraced Him as Messiah.  He used the disciples who were Jewish to help spread the gospel.  Jesus had a heart for the Gentiles as well.  On several occasions during His earthly ministry he reached out to Gentiles.  From the woman at the well to the Roman Centurion, He proved that the salvation He would bring through His death, burial, and resurrection was for all people.  Jesus chose to focus on a few believers and empower them to take His message and purpose to all the earth.  He wanted to reproduce His character in them so that they might be witnesses not only with their words, but also with their lives.  He also wanted them to reproduce the structure He had established.  Through the disciples, the church was formed.  The church was to be structured so that believers would be filled with the character of Christ.

The Great Commission is listed five times in Scripture.  It is Jesus’ last command to all believers.  We must share the Gospel with all nations.  All authority has been given to Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit we have the ability to share the greatest news of all time.  When the Holy Spirit indwells our lives, we have the power to be effective witnesses for Him.  That means not only with our words, but our lifestyle as well.  We have a mission that has been given to us by God.  We must stay focused and work toward a goal to share the Good News with everyone until the whole world has heard the Gospel.  We should also be mission minded.  In order for the mission to be completed, people must go and tell.  If we can’t go ourselves we need to be willing to support the one who do go.

The ultimate purpose of Christ’s ministry on earth was to seek and save that which was lost.  Salvation cannot be attained apart from Christ.  The idea of Universalism is an empty one.  God’s forgiveness is available for all, but it is not automatic.  Although Jesus’ death on the cross was the final sacrifice to atone for sin, we must consciously accept the gift of grace He extends to us.

Jesus commanded us to not only seek and save the lost, but to also teach and disciple believers.  He wants us to teach them to observe His commands, and trust and obey Him in every situation.  In our churches today, I believe this part of the Great Commission is forgotten.  If we don’t disciple new believers, they will not know the true pleasure of living a life devoted to Christ.  It would be like helping to deliver a baby, and then leaving it in the crib to fend for itself.  In order to change our world, we need to teach and disciple all nations so that all people will be able to live a life devoted to Christ.

The central message that we need to share with all nations is that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.  He is God’s one and only son.  Faith must not be based on what we see or feel, or the culture in which we live.  Our faith must be in the person of Jesus Christ and His atoning work on the cross.  Jesus is unique among all other religious leaders.  He is alive and at work in the lives of believers, unlike Mohammad or Buddha whose bones are in their graves.  In order for the uniqueness of Christ to be fully displayed, we must live a life that points others to Him.  The world is looking for a genuine person to put their faith in.  We may be the only Jesus that anyone sees.  It is up to us grow the kingdom through a uniquely devoted life to the only one by which we might be saved.  That person is Jesus.

The gospel message is intended to be a global message.  We need to have a passion for the lost.  We need to be broken for those around us who need Christ.  Not out of a sense of legalistic obligation, but out of love and genuine concern.  People matter to God.  We need to see them through the eyes of Christ.  When we truly see people’s need for the life changing power of Christ, then and only then will we share the way He wants us to.  As ministers, we are not in a profession, but in a passion led ministry.

 

Standing Alone

The promised Holy Spirit descended on this band of 120 men and women who were in agreement in heart and mind. In that empowered moment, everything suddenly became clear to them. In a flash they realized that the real mission of Jesus was not to establish a government, but to transform the hearts and minds of people. It was not to solve society’s problems from the top down, but from the bottom up, just as he did when he was among them. He healed, he ministered, he fed, he taught, and he loved individual people with real needs. And these people loved him in return. They had seen his transforming mission in action, but they had been too self-centered and self-absorbed in their own personal kingdom building to recognize it. But the power of prayer and the Holy Spirit changed all that.

On the day of Pentecost their confusion turned to conviction. They burst from the room and began explaining the message and meaning of Jesus in the languages of the foreigners visiting Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost. A crowd of thousands gathered in amazement, asking, “What can this mean?” (Acts 2:12, NLT).

Can’t you just see Peter, the most vocal of the bunch, standing boldly before the crowd? Only weeks before he had been the opposite of bold—afraid even to identify himself with Jesus when the Romans arrested his master. But on this day he spoke with an enlightened heart and mind, in the power of God’s Spirit, unashamedly proclaiming: “What you see this morning was predicted centuries ago by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God said, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people’” (Acts 2:16-17, NLT).

For ten days Peter and the other followers of Jesus had been bathed in prayer. Now Peter went on to preach a convicting sermon about a new kingdom—a transformational Kingdom movement of God ushered in by prayer and the Holy Spirit. And some three thousand people were baptized into what became known as the Body of Christ—his church. In striking contrast to the religious leaders and people of that day, these fresh new believers didn’t just assemble behind closed doors and keep their religion to themselves. They lived out their newfound relationship with Christ through the power of God’s Spirit. Rather than talking about Jesus, they acted like him. Rather than being religious in a Temple, they were relevant to their society. It is recorded that “a deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. They worshipped together in the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—all the while praising God and enjoying the good will of the people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved” (Acts 2:43-47, NLT).

This transformational Kingdom movement swept throughout Jerusalem and turned the current religion of that day on its ear. These bands of Christ followers proclaimed that “pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means we must care for the orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us” (James 1:27, NLT). That was in striking contrast to what the Jewish religious leaders had taught. And rather than erecting buildings and creating an institution of this new religion, these Christ followers gathered in homes where they prayed in agreement and in the power of the Holy Spirit engaged their community, the surrounding countryside, and the known world with a compassion for those in need like that of their Lord and Savior himself. Their lives so reflected Christ that they were known as Christ-ians. Engaging the community around them with a lived-out gospel in the power of God actually transformed people’s lives and house churches were a natural consequence. And this transformational movement of Jesus swept the world like wildfire.  I believe that this can happen today if we are truly seeking to help the lost world around us experience this type of transformation.  I believe the best way to do that is through the model of the early church found in Acts.

The main reason for the Pentecostal boom is that people are looking for real intimacy and authenticity.  The Pentecostal movement offers both. Intimacy is something that I think is misunderstood.  In our society, intimacy is equated with sex.  I believe that true intimacy occurs when we really get to know people, and we are known.  We each long to be understood and accepted.  If we can connect with others on more than just a superficial level, we can attain true intimacy.  I think we can really experience God when we are honest with Him.  He knows us and longs for us to know Him.  The Pentecostal Boom is a result of people being honest about who they are and their need for God.

The major thing that we can learn from the early church is to be proactive and critically engage our society.  This is the approach that makes the most sense biblically.  Jesus chose to fully engage the people of His time.  He took the time to ask the tough questions.  He always asked the questions that would go way beyond the surface.  As youth pastors, we need to know what our students are involved in and ask the tough questions.  For example, this summer I did a message series called “MySpace”.  We took six weeks to look at the who, what, when, where, why, and how of MySpace.  MySpace is an Internet blog site where students can set up a profile, post media, and blogs about themselves.  As I began to research this topic, I looked for our students that had a MySpace account, and I was shocked.  Some of the students had revealing photos, lied about their age, and used profanity fluently.  I e-mailed these students and asked to be added to their friends list.  Within one hour, I had a student at my house. He asked,” How did you find out about MySpace?  He was embarrassed that I had found his site.  He puts on a very spiritual front at church, but his site was far from it.  Others were excited that I took time to enter their world.  If we critically engage the post-modern world, we will truly see change.  As youth pastors, we must lead the charge in an evangelical revolution to reach a lost generation.  

Needs-Based Evangelism

    Evangelism is not often thought of as a discipline, possibly because evangelism is often left to those who are called to the ministry. Many lay people believe that one must have a particular spiritual gift in order to share their faith. Evangelism is in deed a spiritual discipline. Discipline is extremely necessary if evangelism is to be effective and consistently practiced. If prayer is the hardest discipline to maintain, then evangelism is certainly the hardest discipline to begin. Probably no other discipline creates such terror in the Christian as that of evangelism. 

    There are several things I was reminded of as I read this book.. First, evangelism is expected. All Christians are not expected to use the same methods of evangelism, but all Christians are expected to evangelize. Also, evangelism is empowered. The power of evangelism is not ourselves, but is the Holy Spirit. 

    Christians fear failure in evangelism, which to most means rejection of the Gospel. But that is not failure; not faithfully sharing Christ is true failure. We are not called to save, we are called to share the Gospel. Conviction and conversion is the work of the Spirit. Success is measured by how faithfully we share the Gospel, not by how many notches we put on our evangelical gun belt. Evangelism should be a natural flow of the Christian life. 

    It is important for us to get a fresh glimpse of what it means to be a follower of Christ. In today’s society, we have lost our since of identity. The early church knew who they were, what they believed, and why they believed it. In order to really see Christianity in a new light, we must reexamine the salvation process. The Postmodern view of salvation is one that tends to shift from the long held modern view of God’s redemptive power of the Cross and a believers response to that sacrifice. Postmoderns view salvation as universal. By Christ’s death on the cross, we all are assured salvation. This view comes from the religiously pluralistic society in which we live. It is hard for most postmoderns to believe that an all-loving and all-powerful God could send someone to hell for not adopting a certain belief system.

     As a result, postmodern evangelicals have adopted new approaches to evangelism. One way is the approach of discipiling a person before they come to Christ. This approach allows a person to ask questions and get to know more about God and His love for them and does not pressure them to hurry up and say a prayer. Postmodern evangelicals realize that salvation is a process of transformation that begins with putting one’s trust in Christ. Also once a person comes to Christ, they are put in an environment to facilitate growth and spiritual maturity. They learn what it means to follow Christ by being immersed within a community of believers to aid in this process. 

    The main weakness I see is that it could be easy for a person to value the process more than the decision. In reality, it all comes down to a personal decision to accept or reject Christ gift of salvation. The process is good in helping people come to realize their need for Christ, but it should be viewed as a way to help someone through the decision making process. We also need to help people develop a new thirst and hunger to hear and relate to the story of God. 

    Narrative theology is a term that refers to the theology that can be learned and applied to one’s life when you look at the narrative stories in the Bible. It is a view of theology that finds meaning in the story itself. We can learn about the nature and character of God. The Bible is a relational book. We can see through these narrative stories God’s relationship to man, man’s relationship to God, and man’s relationship to man. The Bible stories are there to teach us truth of who God is, and then we have to apply these lessons to our lives. We are supposed to interpret and apply these stories according to the original intentions of the authors of Scripture and not by our own criteria. 

    I believe the narrative theology really communicates to the postmodern mind. We cannot assume that the people we minister to every week have any biblical knowledge at all. The narrative approach helps draw them into the great, and grand story of God. It is up to us to help them see that God has a part for them to play in that story. We have to be careful when using this approach because we do not want to open the door for people to interject their own interpretation of the story. We have to convey the absolute truth contained in those stories without compromising the integrity of the message itself. We need to be the church of the market place. The Church needs to get back to a holistic approach as it reaches out to the community in which it finds itself. We need to be able to explain the narratives of the Bible and use them to shine light on universal truth. We need to also tell our own narrative of how God has changed our lives. Our testimony can really help illustrate that God is still in the business of changing lives. The churches that are making the most impact in their communities have achieved a balance between a narrative theology and relational apologetics. This how we are going to help turn the tide of relativism and apathy with the church and the world.

Absolutely

    In John 20:28, we hear Jesus say that He came to “serve” and not be served.  We should have them same attitude.  We have been called to serve the communities in which we have been planted.  Where does this motivation to serve come from?

            Jesus had a very clear mission on earth.  He came to fulfill the mission of God that was laid out in Genesis 3:15 that mankind would be redeemed.  He never lost sight of that mission.  As the called ones of Christ, we must not forget that mission either.  We must be about carrying out this same mission.   In order to be effective in this effort, we must realize that every area of our lives must be invaded by God.  Our motivation for service should never be our love for others, but it should be our love for God.  The Great Commandment puts this into perspective.  We must first love God with all our mind, soul, and strength, then and only then, will we be able to love our neighbor as our self.

            In order to really love God with all that we are we must be totally sold out to Him.  We must not only confess that we love Christ with our mouths, but we must confess it with our lifestyle.  In Luke 12:8, Jesus states that we must confess Him before men.  Oswald Chambers restates this verse this way; “Whoever confesses Me before men (that is, confesses his love by everything he does, not merely by his words), him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God”.  God tends to speak to me through music more than any other medium.  The band Starfield just released a brand new album entitled The Saving One.  On this album they have a new song called Absolutely that speaks on this very topic.  Read the lyrics below and see if they move you like they moved me:

 

Absolutely

Lover of my soul

I want to tell You

Only You have all of me

I cannot contain

My adoration

I’m in love so desperately

No one is as lovely as You are

And there is no one else Who has my heart

Jesus, You have me completely

Every breath that I breathe

I am absolutely in love

Jesus, I am Yours forever

All of me surrenders

I am absolutely in love with You

Down upon my knees

I’m lost in worship

Humbled by Your majesty

What is there to say

But how I love You

Thank You for forgiving me

All I am is Yours

Only Yours

    This song sums up what I want to be.  I want to be totally sold out to Christ.  What about you?  Take some time this week and evaluate at what level are you sold out.  My prayer for you and me is that it would be absolutely.  Have a great week and may you fall more in love with God each day.

Be Still

“Step out of the traffic!  Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything.”  Psalm 46:10 (MSG)

 

Today we live in a world that is so complex.  The hustle and bustle of our society tends to drown out the inner voice inside us this is trying so hard to get out.  We all long to be free.  Not just free of our worries and cares, but to be totally free.  The way God intended us to be, but how do we get there?  How do we navigate our way through this maze called life?  In Psalm 46, we hear the voice of God calling us to “Be Still”.  For some of us that is hard.  In our society, we have been conditioned to be busy with our work and even our free time.  We are even so busy on what we call “Vacations” that we come back more tired than when we left.  We return to work tired and more drained instead of refreshed and relaxed.  How do we fix this habit of busyness?

God calls us to be still and know that He is God.  This may seem like a strange phrase, but it is very profound.  David knew all too well the busyness of life.  As he wrote Psalm 46, he was busy fleeing for his life.  Saul was chasing after him and David spent most of this time in hiding.  He begins this Psalm by acknowledging that God is our hiding place and refuge; a place where we can find rest and peace.  We try to find peace in a lot of things.  Our jobs, our bank accounts, and even our church, but God is our true source of peace.  We must seek time to be silent and be alone with God to truly know who He is.  Then and only then will we find true peace.

I like the way the Message uses the phrase “Step out of traffic” in Psalm 46:10.  Doesn’t it seem like we are in this never-ending rush of traffic as we make our way through life.  We feel like we must keep up with the flow of life around us and at times the pace is more that we can take.  We look back at our life and the pace that we have been traveling, only to realize that we have missed some of the most beautiful sights along the journey.  God wants us to step out traffic and rest in Him for a while, but what does that look like. 

In Sacred Pathways, Gary Thomas looks at several paths that people journey on as they connect with God.  Most of the pathways align with our unique personality.  God has wired us a certain way, thus we each connect with Him in a unique way.  As we connect with God, we undergo a moral reformation of character, brought about by the power of the truth.   It is the work of the Holy Spirit bringing our lives more and more under the influences of the new principles placed in the soul at salvation.   In other words, the way we connect to God facilitates the process of perfecting the work begun at salvation, and it extends to the whole man.  It is the special function of the Holy Spirit in the plan of redemption to carry on this work.  Faith is instrumental in how we connect with God.  It secures union to Christ, and brings the believer into living contact with the truth, where he is led to yield to obedience and to embrace the promises of God for this life and that which is to come.  After reading this book, I realize that the Contemplative Path is really the building block for the other paths that were discussed.  For us to be able to connect with God, we must think and contemplate about this God that we are trying to connect with.  This idea of contemplation is the basic DNA or “building block” that the other paths build from.  It is not necessarily the best path, but it is foundational.  I feel that we have not really put enough emphasis on the contemplative process.  We plan our services, Bible Studies, and Small Groups around a curriculum that focuses on facts and intellectual knowledge, but leaves very little room for people to sit in silence and contemplate who God is.  We have a created an entire culture that worships a God that very few have taken the time to get to know.  One thing that I am trying to do in our Student Ministry is to intentionally create some time for our students to connect with God and hear from Him on a new level.  Each quarter we have a Contemplative Prayer Service.  Students go from station to station as music plays.  They participate in the service by interacting with what is written on the signs at each station.  These services have been very meaningful for our students.  Many for the first time felt as if they connected with God.  I believe we need to create environments like this because we can be about the “busy work” of ministry and forget to help people, or even ourselves, connect with the God we serve.  Take some time this week and get alone with God.  Connect with God of the universe, be still, and fall in love with the One who created you.

 

Who is My Neighbor?

In Luke 10:25- 37, when the expert in the Law asks Jesus who his neighbor is, what is he really asking Jesus?  I believe that the expert of the Law was asking a loaded question.  I do not think that he was really interested in identifying who his neighbor was, but wanted to know who he could ignore and get away with it.  Many times questions like this are asked to justify what a person is already doing.

When Jesus suggests through the Parable of the Good Samaritan that it was the Samaritan who acted as a neighbor to the half dead man, how does this answer the earlier question of the expert in the Law? Jesus turns the focus back to motive and action.  Being a neighbor to someone is not a passive thing.  It requires action.  A Neighbor is not just a person who lives next door to you.  He wanted to highlight the fact that a true neighbor would put the needs of another above his own.  The Samaritan went against tradition and custom to help someone in need.  Would we do the same?  Jesus wanted to people to think about how we act toward others on a daily basis.

    What is the implication of Jesus’ answer for who we are to love and what love means in concrete terms?  This has been something that church and believers have struggled with since this parable was spoken.  We know what it means, but we do grasp how to put it into practice.  In Love This, Andy Braner uses a great illustration to shed some light on how this might be lived out.

“Sometimes loving your neighbor means reaching out to people of another generation—people much older than you. Sometimes it involves providing physical care of companionship for someone in the last chapter of life’s adventure.

The question is, how? How can you show genuine, heartfelt love to someone you have nothing in common with? How can you initiate a meaningful relationship with someone old enough to be your grandparent?

One of the greatest gifts you can offer someone is a genuine interest in his or her life. Many elderly people are especially grateful for the opportunity to pass on their personal history. If you come equipped with a sense of curiosity, a respectful attitude, and a listening ear, you have nothing to fear when it comes to interacting with senior citizens. Work through your apprehension to become someone who is interested in learning about people from previous generations, someone who will tend to their needs, someone who will listen to their stories and laugh at their jokes.

I met my wife in college when her grandfather (Pappy) was still alive. I met Pappy for the first time when he was 79 years old. I’ll never forget it. He shook my hand, looked me in the eyes as only Pappy could do, and made me feel truly welcome—even though I was just a punk college student dating his prized granddaughter.

Every time I visited his house on Whippoorwill Hill, he would pour me a cup of coffee and tell me the most outrageous stories I’d ever heard. I don’t know if they were all true or not, but the man knew how to hold my attention. I remember sitting at the foot of his old blue leather chair, listening for hours as he told about all the history he’d lived. He told stories about the war, how he met Gram, the old days of the camping business, and how he loved to build stuff. Every story session always went back to some building he built back in the good old days.

With each visit I was happy to learn about the past, but I wanted to learn more about the man telling the story. I knew Pappy had graduated from USC with a degree in engineering. I also knew he loved to construct buildings. So I went down to the local hardware store and purchased a set of building plans for a garage-style barn to be build beside my house.

I took the plans straight to Pappy’s house. I knocked on the door, and he welcomed me in with his usual warm smile. “Can I get you some coffee?” he asked. I walked in with the plans under my arm. When we reached the kitchen table, I rolled them out. “What are those for, Boy?” (He always called me “Boy”—not in a derogatory way but as a term of endearment.) I asked if he would teach me how to build the barn. His face immediately lit up, and he asked, “When do we start?”

For the next few months we worked on the barn, and I learned a lot about the man his friends called Spike. He was super funny. He was incredibly creative. And he didn’t mind taking time out of his life to teach me a few things about building. He showed me the power of patience, the value of precision, and the price for making something nice. He helped me understand how to create foundations, how to build walls, and how to measure for roofing structures. It was one of the greatest times in my life.” (Braner, p. 114-118)

    Are there any people or people groups in the immediate context of your church that some in your congregation do not thing of as “neighbors” in the manner of the parable?   I do believe there is still an air of arrogance among white Christians.  I believe this attitude is due to the mainstream marketing that has occurred within the American Church.  If you look at the Bible Study Material, Book Covers, Websites, or other promotional material it depicts only white people.  It is very rare to find promotional material that is culturally inclusive.  I do not think that this is intentional.  I just think that we do not know how to market to other cultures.  Therefore, it seems that White Christians are only interested in reaching their own kind and are not interested in the rest of the world.  That can appear to be arrogance if viewed by one looking from the outside.  Also when White Christians talk about other churches, they feel the need to classify them by race rather than just another church within the Kingdom.  For example, they talk with their friends and say, “Have you heard about what is going on at Salem Baptist Church”?  You know that’s the Black Church on the corner.”  Or they will classify a church as a “Hispanic Church” or an “Asian Church”.  We are all one church.  You do not hear people saying “Hey I visited First Baptist today.  I really liked it.  You know that’s the White Church on the corner.”  Sometimes it seems as though we feel that we have cornered the market on what it means to be Christian just because we are white.  We need to move past this arrogance and see all people as Jesus did.  He had compassion for all.  If we are going to be the church that God called us to be, we must humbly take His message of saving grace to all.  The church as a whole does not think about the “The Third Church” because many people see that is being across the ocean.  The do not see as it being right in their backyard.  They say, “Reaching those people is the missionaries job.”  Many do not realize the “Third Church” is right in their neighborhood.  We must help our people grasp a Glocal Vision to reach “all” with the Gospel of Christ.  

 

Book Review: Ministry in the Image of God: The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Service

Ministry in the Image of God:  The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Service
 By Stephen Seamands                                                           
 © 2005, Downers Grove, IL, Intervarsity Press.  ISBN 978-0-8308-3338-2           

 

CHAPTER TITLES & MINI-SUMMARIES 

1. Trinitarian Ministry:  Why it Matters:  As Ministers, we need to recognize the working of the Trinity in the task and motivation of ministry.

2. Relational Priesthood:  The Nature of Trinitarian Ministry:  The Trinity helps us view the relational aspect of ministry through the lens of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

3.  Joyful Intimacy:  The Heart of Trinitarian Ministry:  We must be open and honest with God in order to create intimacy with him.  Also if we can connect with others on more than just a superficial level, we can attain true intimacy as we minister to the local church.

4.  Glad Surrender:  The Heart of Trinitarian Ministry:  The surrendering of our lives to serve Christ is a human expression of the attitude of how each member of the Trinity relates to the other.

5. Complex Simplicity:  The Mystery of Trinitarian Ministry: The Trinity sounds simple, but the Trinity is man’s feeble effort to define the attributes of God.  This mystery helps provide a frame-work for service and ministry.

6.  Gracious Self Acceptance:  The Particularity of Trinitarian Ministry:  The uniqueness of each member of the Trinity allows ministry to be shaped and colored in special ways to accomplish God’s mission.

7.  Mutual Indwelling:  The Reciprocity of Trinitarian Ministry:  The fact that we are filled with the Holy Spirit allows us to allow every member of the Trinity to work in and through us.

8.  Passionate Ministry:  The Impulse of Trinitarian Ministry:  The work of the Trinity helps to control the heartbeat and origin of the ministry that we fulfill.

 

SUMMARY:

In Ministry in the Image of God, Seamands explores the impact of the Trinity on the function of ministry.  He begins looking at the need to recognize the working of the Trinity in the task and motivation of ministry.  He points out the fact that the Trinity helps us view the relational aspect of ministry through the lens of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  We must be open and honest with God in order to create intimacy with him.  Intimacy is something that I think is misunderstood.  In our society, intimacy is equated with sex.  I believe that true intimacy occurs when we really get to know people, and we are known.  We each long to be understood and accepted.  If we can connect with others on more than just a superficial level, we can attain true intimacy.  I think we can really experience God when we are honest with Him.  He knows us and longs for us to know Him.  Seamands also points out that the surrendering of our lives to serve Christ is a human expression of the attitude of how each member of the Trinity relates to the other.  The Trinity sounds simple, but the Trinity is man’s feeble effort to define the attributes of God.  This mystery helps provide a framework for service and ministry.  The uniqueness of each member of the Trinity allows ministry to be shaped and colored in special ways to accomplish God’s mission.  The fact that we are filled with the Holy Spirit allows us to allow every member of the Trinity to work in and through us.  Finally, Seamands closes with the thought that the work of the Trinity helps to control the heartbeat and origin of the ministry that we fulfill.

KEY IDEAS: 

             The overarching idea is that the Trinity should be fleshed out in our ministry on a daily basis.  For example, the Father is expressed in our theology or the way we view God.  The Son is represented in our view of the Gospel and how it is shared and preached.  The Holy Spirit should be the fuel that powers our ministry in the present and into the future.  Seamands outlines seven main characteristic of the Trinitarian lifestyle as:

1.              Relational Personhood: The Nature of Trinitarian Ministry

2.              Joyful Intimacy: The Foundation of Trinitarian Ministry

3.              Glad Surrender: The Heart of Trinitarian Ministry

4.              Complex Simplicity: The Mystery of Trinitarian Ministry

5.              Gracious Self-Acceptance: The Particularity of Trinitarian Ministry

6.              Mutual Indwelling: The Reciprocity of Trinitarian Ministry

7.      Passionate Mission: The Impulse of Trinitarian Ministry

 

GREAT QUOTES: 

“The primary purpose of the Trinitarian grammar is not for comprehension or communication, but communion with God.” (p.12)

“The Trinity not only reveals that persons are essentially relational, it also discloses characteristics that define healthy interpersonal relationships.” (p. 35)

“No Trinity is conceivable without the lamb, without the sacrifice of love, without the crucified Son.” (p. 79)

As we apprehend God’s triune self-revelation, we also acknowledge and gladly confess that we do not full comprehend God.” (p. 103) 

The Trinitarian circle where the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit indwell and are indwelt by one another is open, not closed.  We have been invited into the circle to participate I the divine dance. (p. 145)

 

SUGGESTED READING:

Knowing the Name of God: Trinitarian Tapestry of Grace, Faith, and Community, Roderick Luepp

Beholding the Beauty of the Lord, Henri Nouwen

These Three Are One:  The Practice of Trinitarian Theology, David Cunningham

The Promise of the Trinity, Colin Gunton

 

REFLECTION AND REACTION: 

The Trinity is man’s feeble effort to define the attributes of God. The Bible points to the fact that the Trinity refers to the triune personalities of God.  If you look to the early Church Fathers, the Trinity was an issue that they spent a lot of time trying to wrap their minds around. It is still true today. We must develop a clear theology of the Trinity and be able to articulate it well, if we are going to communicate this major tenant of our faith with those who are seeking to join mankind’s conversation with the God who created them.  We hold to the substance of the Trinity, but have no clue how to articulate it.  God did not give us much information on how God can be three and one, but I think that the more we get to know Him and really follow Him it will become clearer.  For example, I knew my role as a son as I was growing up.  I dreamed one day of being a husband and a father.  I knew that I would reach that goal one day, and believed I could be all three (Son, father, and husband), but until I became intimately involved in each of those areas I really did not understand those roles.  It is the same with God.  The more we understand the role of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; the better equipped we will be to do ministry.

            The Trinity has been evident from the beginning of time.  Creation is a perfect example of the Trinity working together to accomplish God’s overall purpose. In Genesis 1:2 we see that the earth was formless and darkness covered the deep waters, and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.  The Holy Spirit played an active role in the creation account.  A little further in Genesis 1 we get a glimpse of a conversation between all members of the Trinity as they discussed creating man.  In Genesis 1:26, we see the God Head conferring with the other two members of the Trinity as they decide to make man “in our image”.  Jesus also played a vital role in creation.  In John 1:3, we see that God created everything “through Christ”.  Jesus was the agent of Creation.  That is why it is so profound that the very person who played the most active role in Creation came back to give His life to redeem the very thing He created.  The Trinity is one of the basic foundations of the Christian Faith, but also the most misunderstood.  When we look at it against the backdrop of the entirety of Scripture, we can see that each member of the Trinity has a unique role in the Great, Grand Story of God.

     The Holy Spirit is the unifying factor within the Trinity.  What I mean by that is it can be explained by the analogy of a person.  God is the head.  All things originate from the head and thus communicates those things to the body.  The body represents Christ.  Christ is the active part of the Trinity that executes the head’s will.  The Holy Spirit is like the blood that flows through the body unifying the Trinity into one unified being.  The Holy Spirit’s role is to help conform us to the image of Christ.  This process is know as Sanctification, but I like to refer to it as transformation.  It is a process that we go through in order to become more like Jesus. 

 Today we live in a world that is so complex.  The hustle and bustle of our society tends to drown out the inner voice inside us this is trying so hard to get out.  We all long to be free.  Not just free of our worries and cares, but to be totally free.  The way God intended us to be, but how do we get there?  How do we navigate our way through this maze called life?  The key is transformation.  A caterpillar cannot truly be free and become what God intended it to be until it goes through a transformation process and becomes a butterfly.  If that is possible for every part of nature, then why not for us.  The transformation process is not an easy one.  Very few people could explain what it means to be transformed.  In order to begin this journey, we must do an inventory of who we are.  Who are we created to be?  We must be liberated from this hectic, burdensome life, and live a life of freedom that Christ has in store for all of us.  In order to be truly free, we must allow Christ to be in total control of our lives by yielding to the Holy Spirit’s work in our life and let Him have total control of our lives.

 The Holy Spirit allows us to be the “incarnate” representative of Christ on earth.  We will have the same spirit and mind of Christ if we tap into the power and guidance that the Holy Spirit offers thus allowing us to form our Ministry in the Image of God.

 

Reign of God

I believe the Reign of God as it refers to the church means that we must have a Kingdom focus to our ministry.  Is the church that God established strayed from the very mission that it was given in the beginning?  I think that many churches do not understand that the church can not function properly unless it is functioning under the Reign of God.  The late author and Christian historian Robert Webber may have found part of the answer in this startling quote he picked up from an unknown source:

· The Church started as a missionary movement in Jerusalem.

· It moved to Rome and became an institution.

· It traveled to Europe and became a culture.

· It crossed the Atlantic to America and became a big business.

While this is simplistic, it does ring true. It appears that religious people have, on the whole, lost their “transforming salt” and are no longer an “attractive light” that most people want to follow. Webber and many others believe that traditional evangelism reached its high point in North America in the 1980s and by 2000 was in the throes of its last gasps.  The church began to see itself as an entity and not a connected part of the Reign of God.

It may seem strange to think that traditional evangelism is in its last gasps when some North American churches seem to be increasing in number. Indeed, if the measure of success is church attendance, donations, people’s participation, numbers of programs, or square footage of church space, then many of today’s churches would be considered overwhelming successful. But are these factors valid measurements for the success of a church? If not, what is? The apostle Paul established some indicators. He stated that the leadership of the church was responsible “to equip God’s people to do his work…” so they would be “…mature and full grown in the Lord,measuring up to the full stature of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13, NLT). “Since we believe that Christ died for everyone, we also believe that we have all died to the old life we used to live…so that those who receive his new life will no longer live to please themselves” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15, NLT). The disciple James went on to add: “Dear brothers and sisters, what’s the use of saying you have faith if you don’t prove it by your actions?” (James 2:14, NLT).

We can not forget that the church was established by God through what Christ did on the cross to ultimately fulfill His mission in the world.  When we get outside of the Reign of God (kingdom focus), we dishonor they very message that we are called to spread to the ends of the earth.

Book Review: In Jesus Name: Reflections of Christian Leadership

In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership
 By Henri J.M. Nouwen                                                           
 © 1989, New York, The Crossroads Publishing Company.  ISBN 978-0-8245-1259-0           

 

When we hear the call to follow Christ, it is more than just a physical or mental decision to follow him.  Henri Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus:  Reflections on Christian Leadership, we see that to be a Christian Leader we must surrender all we are to the leadership of Christ.  The problem has been that the purity of simply following Christ gets replaced with ideas of grandeur and success.  In Matthew 4:19, we see that when Jesus called his disciples it was a request to come and follow a Rabbi and teacher.  In the Jewish culture, young men would study the law and the prophets.   Then periodically have interviews with Rabbis to see if they had what it took to be Disciples.  There were several stages that a young man would go through to see if he had “the right stuff”.  If he passed the test, he would follow the Rabbi and take on his “yoke” or teaching.  If he did not pass the test, he would be encouraged to take on the trade of his father.  The fisherman that Jesus called on that shore in Galilee had failed the test.  They were working in the trade of their fathers.  So when the Rabbi came by and said, “Follow Me”, they left all to follow.  They realized that he saw “the right stuff” within them.  This was a physical following.  Peter would later be called to an inward following.  Nowen challenges leaders to get back to heart of their calling, but he goes on to show us that we can not do it in the flesh.

     In John 20:22, we see the resurrected Jesus talking with His disciples and giving them a blessed gift.  He breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit”.  This was a down payment of what was going to happen at Pentecost.  They were sealed and filled with the Holy Spirit at that moment, just as we are the moment we commit our lives to Christ.  When the Holy Spirit was given to them it was an invasion of the soul.  It invaded the very core of their being.  An invasion is a military offensive consisting of all, or large parts of the armed forces of one geopolitical entity aggressively entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of either conquering, liberating or reestablishing control or authority over a territory, forcing the partition of a country, altering the established government or gaining concessions from said government, or a combination thereof.   An invasion can be the cause of a war, be used, as a part of a larger strategy to end a war, or it can constitute an entire war in itself.  Due to the large scale of the operations associated with invasions, they are usually strategic in planning and execution.  This invasion ended the war between God and man.  God strategically planned this invasion before the foundations of the world were created.  We have been liberated from the power and bondage of sin.  Our relationship has been restored.  Understanding what we have been liberated from should drive us to follow Christ.  In order to truly follow we must be surrendered to the power of the Holy Spirit through prayer and not chase after relevance.  Relevance is defining an issue and then proposing a plausible solution to that problem.  We can only be relevant when we understand that only God can provide the answers the world is looking for.  The main way to tap in to that power and guidance is through prayer and not the latest program on the street.

    Later Jesus restores Peter by asking him a series of questions to check Peter’s motives.  Earlier in the Book of John, Peter vowed to give his life to follow Christ, but later denied him.  Peter was quick to commit the flesh to something that it was not capable of.  After Peter and been broken and come to the end of himself, he realized that apart from Christ he could do nothing.  Now after the Holy Spirit was given and Peter was restored, we see Jesus give a command that he also gives to us today.  In John, 21:19, we see Jesus command Peter saying, “Follow Me”.  Apart from the Holy Spirit, we cannot truly follow Christ.  We must inwardly be broken and surrender daily to the Spirit in order to fully follow Christ and be able to lead others to do the same. We must allow ourselves to be invaded by the Holy Spirit.  Then and only then will we be leaders operating In the Name of Jesus.