How Did We Get Here?

Driving up to the building brought excitement to Aaron and Ellen. They had been looking for a church family to belong to for several months. They had visited many churches in their area from mega churches to churches with many seats and few people. In each and every experience, they felt like outsiders as they sat among brothers and sisters. Here they were again, pulling up to a building hoping that this experience would be different. They had been told about this church by some friends and it all sounded wonderful, but so did the last six churches they tried.

As they walked in the door Ellen noticed that the decorations were done very tastefully and Aaron noticed that there was some free coffee and snacks. They were greeted by another couple who introduced themselves and they exchanged pleasantries. As Aaron and Ellen stacked their plates with finger foods, they faded into a corner and watched. They overheard several conversations of friends who were catching up on their week, how prayers were being answered, how their jobs were going and how their favorite reality show was going down. The people in this church seemed nice enough, but just like other churches they had attended, they felt left out and that others were more interested in their old friends than making new friends. As they sensed the others moving to a more formal setting they hoped that the music, energy and teaching would fill the longing in their hearts.

Everyone was welcomed and the singing began, the worship flowed, ministry to one another took place through the music and some personal interaction. Someone shared a section of Scripture, another said a prayer and more singing was enjoyed. As the time of worship softly ended a transition took place to a time of learning from the Bible. As church ended and people began heading for their cars there were a couple of hugs given to Ellen and Aaron from a lady who encouraged them to come back next week.

During their drive home Ellen asked Aaron if he sensed the Lord drawing them to this community of believers and also how he enjoyed the whole experience. Aaron said, “You know, I really was hoping that this House Church experience would have been much different than it was. For me, it was little more than church gone miniature. I think the Lord had much more in mind for His church.”

I hope you were surprised to learn that this fictitious couples experience took place at a house church. “How did we (the church) get to such a place” has been a question raging in my own mind and heart lately. I think most people would agree that during Jesus’ three and a half years on earth, that he had one continuous church experience with His disciples. If you agree, notice that almost none of what happens in churches today took place with Jesus and His disciples.

Large highly organized ‘services’ were unknown to Jesus and His followers. Focusing on how people feel and how comfortable they are was not on their radar. Large crowds are a marker of a successful church these days but Jesus often left large crowds to talk with His disciples privately and moved out to take new ground (Mark 1:29-38). Passive crowds of people waiting to be fed spiritually processed food did happen in Jesus’ ministry, but He never seemed to organize them or make them His main ministry. His message was always one of pushing people out to take His good news to others...even when He was working with brand new believers (Mark 4, John 4, John 9, Matt. 4:19, Acts 1:8).

When I look at how the church in the Book of Acts and throughout the Epistles interacted and were encouraged to conduct themselves, I begin to ask how did we, the church, indeed get to where we are today; one hour passive services, programs, slick marketing and consumer driven ministry? I also wonder how organic or house churches can look so familiar to the one in my story at the beginning of this blog? I’ll interact with those questions next time, but I’m curious, what do you think?

Some Key Concepts of Church (as I see it :-)

Ideas associated with the word "Church" are varied to say the least. It can range from very informal and small to very ornate and large. For some, church equals boring and a waste of time while for others it means encouragement and a large focus of their life. Some see church as an option and for others it is mandatory. A large chunk of people need a holy person and a holy building to have church while others need neither. On and on the contrasts and ideas could go.

I'm attempting to put down some of the key concepts of church as I see them (this is not meant to be exhaustive or complete). I want to write these down so the world will know my thoughts about church, so our network of organic churches will have something to point to and also for those who may sense something is amiss with their concept of church and want to explore other options. So here are some of my key concepts of church:

1. Jesus is the head of the church, He is the only Senior Pastor there is!

I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. Matthew 16:18

He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. Colossians 1:18

I think those verses are pretty clear on their own :-)

2. The church should be multiplying communicators not listeners.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth. Acts 1:8

And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles...Therefore, thosewho had been scattered went about preaching the word. Acts 8:1 & 4

Every believer in the church is to be on mission to share their story of what Jesus has done in their life and also tell the truth of His good news. Every believer is able to communicate what Jesus has done for them. As more and more believers become involved in sharing their stories with the world, the larger and larger the amount of communicators become. Eventually, everyone will hear the truth about Jesus when this happens. However, if we focus more on attracting listeners to the professionals and polished people of the church we will miss out on getting the masses into the nooks and crannies of the world where most of the people are.

Let's be honest, if church leadership continues to do the work of spreading the good news through listener oriented venues, the believers have no reason to get involved beyond inviting. I think I can hear Jesus saying, "That's not what I had in mind. Read Acts 8:1-4 again." :-)

3. Discipleship is job #1.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations..." Matthew 28:19

The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also...Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:2 & 22 (emphasis mine)

No one is commanded to plant or build churches but every believer is called and commanded by Jesus Christ Himself to make disciples as we go through life. This is a most important job of every believer. Think with me for a moment - what if every believer actually obeyed Jesus on this and they were making disciples, that is, full sacrificial followers of Jesus? How strong would the church be? If more were focused on helping people to live like Jesus did (making disciples) there would be less focus on what we dislike about church and more dependence upon Christ!

4. The church should be smaller rather than larger.

No one verse can capture this concept but I think Jesus' life gave us this example. Jesus often times shied away from crowds but loved being with smaller groups of people. He spent more time with Peter, James and John than any of the other Apostles. He spend more time with 12 than he did with the crowds. Jesus spent a good chunk of time with the 70 as He sent them out and He spent the least amount of time with the multitudes. Jesus knew the value of remaining small so closeness, accountability, a family feel and I think, with a smaller group, there is a greater ability to spread out and multiply.

5. Church is more like a family than a school.

Most leaders I talk to see their church as a family and not as a school. However, the reality after discussing the life of their church is that most churches do function more like a school than a family. Many are so concerned with services, programs, right nuances of doctrine and protection from error that churches in many cases becomes more school and information orientated than family.

The New Testament is full of organic and familial metaphors to describe the church. Families have fun together, play games together, eat together, cry together and at times are even bored together. They fight, solve problems and support each other.

Look at the verse below to get a taste of the family Paul had in Church in Corinth.

Make room for us in your hearts; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one. I do not speak to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together. Great is my confidence in you; great is myboasting on your behalf I am filled with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction. 2 Cor. 7:2-4

Here we see a taste of a family with problems, challenges and hardships yet Paul states that he is willing to die together and to live together with them. He is confident in them. This comes from a familial way of thinking about church instead of a more instructional way. For too many folks, when problems arise in church they skip on down the street to the next church - avoiding conflict and the opportunity to become closer - to become family.

6. The church is to be equipping people so they are empowered for ministry.

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. Ephesians 4:11-16

I suggest you also read 1 Corinthians 14 for a good taste of how equipped people are encouraged to live out church together.

7. Leadership in the church is flat and non-heirarcichal.

And He said to her, "What do you wish?" She said to Him, "Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left."And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. "It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just asthe Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. Matthew 20:21, 24-28 (see the full context HERE)

Here we see the fleshly desire to be in control, or at least to be recognized as very important, raise its head. When the other ten Apostles got wind of the James and John's request, they became quite angry. Jesus called them all together for a family pow-wow. Jesus laid the law down that in His church, there was to be no one who acted like the Jewish priests and government officials did by being the ones in charge and in control. Instead, they were to be just like (if not lower than) everyone else. This doesn't mean that there are not gifts of leadership nor elders and deacons, there are those gifts and functions but they are not to be the ones in control. In my opinion, leaders guide the body in the direction of health. One way to ensure health and balance is for everyone to be right connection with the Head of the Church, Jesus and to listen to Him for themselves.

8. Church is to be more interactive than passive.

For many, church is something you attend but I believe it is something you are part of and more who you are. To quote Reggie McNeal, "Church is not a what but a who". Today many simply go to a meeting (large or small) and sit and allow others to minister to them or for them. Rarely are people invited to get involved beyond singing. This is not the example we see in the Bible.

In the passage below, the words used to describe Paul's talking to this community late into the night is the word where we get our English word for dialogue. This long meeting in an upstairs room was highly interactive.

On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together. And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. Acts 20:7-9

It would be good to take a look at 1 Cor. 14 and especially verse 26 to get a glimpse into how Paul was instructing the church at Corinth to practice their faith when they got together. One should also study each of the 27 or so 'one another' passages of the Bible which indicates a high level of interaction.

9. DNA at every level.

If you are unfamiliar with the DNA concept, please click HERE for a more detailed discussion.

So there you have a few of my key concepts of church. If you have any comments, please shoot them to me.

The Process of Transformation Part 3 - A Fresh Definition of Repentence

Transformation: change in form, appearance, nature, or character.

By definition, transformation requires change. A caterpillar changes into a butterfly or moth, a tadpole changes into a frog and so on. Change requires that something stops being one thing (a tadpole) or going in one direction (towards being a thief) and becomes another thing (a frog) or goes in another direction (becomes honest). When one changes direction, one repents. Here is one definition of repentance:

Repentance is a change of thought and action to correct a wrong and gain forgiveness from a person who is wronged.

For many people, repentance is a bad word, something to be avoided. The truth is, repentance is something we do all the time. When we make a wrong turn and correct that turn, we repent. When we make a statement that we didn't come out right and we correct it, we repent. When we move from smoking cigarettes to not smoking cigarettes, we repent. Repentance is actually a very good word and a very healthy thing to do.

Of course for Christians, we think of repentance as agreeing with God that we are or were going in a wrong direction (away from God's ways) and we choose to turn and go in a direction that He knows is best. Repentance is necessary for transformation to occur. Often when one thinks of repentance it is thought of in the negative. We think I must repent and stop doing something bad or harmful and start doing something else. We put the emphasis on the negative and I think this is giving repentance a bad rap. What if we changed it?

What if we started of thinking about repentance as running into the wide open loving arms of Jesus. What if when thinking of repentance we focused on the positive aspects of running to Jesus instead of thinking about guilt for our actions or how hard it is to turn from sinful but fun or selfish things in our lives? If we thought in the positive regarding repentance, would more people actually run to Jesus? I don't know but I'm beginning to train myself to think this way and to communicate it this way.

Repentance certainly must include a turning away from certain things (sin) but it also includes a turning to Jesus and His life giving ways. Jesus wipes the slate clean, He delivers us from the dominion of darkness into the Kingdom of His beloved Son, where we have become new creatures - the old is passed away and the new has come!

If we start seeing repentance as a positive thing that causes us to run into the arms of Jesus, improves our relationship with Him, others and therefore our lives in general, I actually do think more people would enter the transformation process and gleefully repent.

What do you think?

The Process of Transformation Part 2

Transformation: change in form, appearance, nature, or character.

Transformation is always supernatural. No one can be transformed to be more and more like Jesus apart from a move by the Spirit of God in a persons life. The Scriptures teach us in Philippians 2:13 that God is always working in us giving us the desire to obey Him and the power to follow through. This teaches me that God is always willing to walk with a person or family or church down the road of transformation - He is always working in us. God also offers to us the desire to obey Him and also the ability to follow through. So why then, one may ask, is transformation seemingly difficult for many people?

Mark 4 does give us some glimpses into the answer of transformation. In this section of Scripture, Jesus teaches His followers that their lives may be like one of four soils that He describes. The quality of the soil determines if there will be a healthy or unhealthy crop to be harvested. The type of crop depends upon the seed and that is where Jesus begins, by talking about the seed.

Mark 4:13-14 teaches us that for there to be a healthy harvest, there must be the right seed put into soil. The seed, Jesus teaches us is the Word of God (Mark 4:14). There is no other seed sown into the soil of ones soul that will reproduce a healthy spiritual crop. So for there to be any real transformation, we must drink in the Word of God, which is the seed that will produce a harvest of holiness in our lives.

The next important aspect of transformation is the soil itself. Mark 4:28 teach us that the soil produces crops all by itself. The right seed in good soil will produce a harvest. But soil must often be cultivated before it becomes nutritious soil capable of reproducing strong crops. When the soil is full of rocks, thorns, weeds or if it is shallow, it will not be able to sustain a hearty crop even with good seed planted in it. Part of God's 'always working in us' includes cultivating the soil of our souls to be the good soil and therefore reproductive.

I think this is where many stray from the transformation process. They like the idea of transformation. They are glad to see others lives be transformed. But when God begins his cultivating of their lives to prepare the soil for the good seed (the Word of God), there often a backing up and away from the process. For cultivation to happen, violence must be done to the soil. It must be poked with a shovel deeply and then ripped out and turned over. It is often raked and has rocks unearthed and removed which disturbs the soil. All of this is quite uncomfortable.

When God cultivates our lives it is painful and yet vital. We have to apply ourselves to cooperate with the Spirit of God as he prepares us to receive and reproduce. Transformation is always a work of God that does require the hard work of cooperation.

Just this past week I was talking to a person who admitted they knew God was working in them and asking them to move forward in their faith which was not comfortable for this friend of mine. This person knew what God was asking but refused to cooperate. The result is that their soil remains weed infested and shallow. No amount of good seed sown upon this soil will produce lasting transformation. An effort must be put forward, but the effort is mostly, if not entirely, in the will of the individual.

In Hebrews 12, we find a summary of the story of Esau. Esau sold his right to his fathers inheritance for a bowl of lentils to his brother Jacob. Of course Esau regretted his decision once his hunger pains left him, but it was too late. Listen to what Hebrews 12:17 tells us about Esau;

"For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears."

Esau regretted what he did and wanted to repent. He even cried over what he had lost but according to this verse, he never choose to repent. He never choose to admit that he only thought of himself and his comfort. He was not willing to do the hard work of repentance; of agreeing with God that he was wrong.

Ultimately, transformation is a cooperation with God. This requires a choice of the will to submit and allow God to lead however He wants. Once we cooperate with God, then God does all the work. Most people may not be experiencing transformation because they need to freshly submit to God - to surrender to Him so that He can cultivate the soil of our souls to make them rich and reproductive soil.

Will you allow God to transform you?

The Process of Transformation

Transformation: change in form, appearance, nature, or character.

Most people like the idea of transformation. We like to see our bodies morph from flabby to fit or our houses from clean to dirty or our lives from lazy to disciplined. What we don't like is the effort and work it takes to become transformed. When we think of spiritual transformation most people that I know would prefer for God to snap His fingers so the process is begun and completed in the same instance. While this does happen at times, the normal growth in spiritual transformation is a process that takes God's intervention along with our work and effort and this is where the challenge occurs for many. But let's back up for a minute.

TRANSFORMATION IS A PROCESS
Transformation is a process that often begins with a question. We can see this initial stage of transforming in people like Zaccheus (Luke 19:1ff). Zaccheus climbed up into a tree because he had a question. He wanted to know who Jesus was. Nicodemus was another person with a question, he wanted to know how one could be born again (John 3). The rich young rulers chance at transformation began when asked what he needed to do to inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:16-25). Moses began to be transformed when he questioned how a bush could be burning with out being consumed by the fire (Exodus 3:1ff). Saul's life began to be transformed when he inquired who it was that caused him to be blinded (Acts 9:1ff).

SEEDS OF TRUTH FOR TRANSFORMATION
In each of the above examples, the question(s) is answered with a seed of truth. In the case of Zaccheus, he learned that Jesus was the giver of salvation. For Nicodemus he found that being born again is an act of God in the soul of a person. In the case of the rich young ruler he found out that eternal life is gained by dying to yourself and in his case that meant giving up his riches. For Moses the seed of truth was to obey the things God was calling him to do. For Saul the truth was to submit himself to Jesus, whom he was persecuting, and for him to receive the Holy Spirit. In every case of transformation, there must be a seed of truth planted in the life of a person. Mark 4:14 teaches us that the seed is the Word of God. There is no spiritual transformation apart from the truth of the God being planted in our lives.

THE COST OF TRANSFORMATION
In each of the above illustrations there was a cost for transformation to take place. This is where somethings can become sticky. The cost of transformation is often severe and there are a good number of people who are not willing to pay the price. They would prefer to take the 'blue pill' and 'wake up believing what ever they want' to quote Morpheus in The Matrix. For the rest, transformation occurs when we take the 'red pill' and see just how far the rabbit hole goes. That is a costly proposition that Jesus invites us to.

For Zaccheus, it cost him most of his fortune, for Nicodemus, most of his reputation over time. For the rich young ruler, it simply cost too much and we never learn of him entering into the process of having a transformed life. For Moses it cost him his career (shepherd), and forty years of hardship in the wilderness. In the life of Saul/Paul, it cost him his prestige as a Pharisee a life that was often abused and misunderstood (2 Cor. 11:21-33).

As we look back on the life of these people today, we certainly agree that their transformation was well worth whatever it cost them. As we look at the lives of our friends who have been through much and transformed much, we would also heartily agree that it is always worth the struggle.

This brings me to a vital question; Why then do not many more who want to be transformed by Jesus see it happen in their lives? I'll give you my thoughts next time. What do you think?

An Early Breakfast in Atlanta

I got up early this morning to have breakfast with two friends. One friend I met a year ago, the other I was meeting for the first time. Both of these friends are believers and both love Jesus very much. You can feel their desire to know Jesus. You can also feel their struggle to follow Jesus with deep passion. They are both committed to church attendance and worship. They both want Jesus to transform them but they are also honest to state that life is just too busy and the responsibilities too large. One of my friends stated that "...going to church on Sunday caused them to feel absolved..." from the previous weeks busyness and infused them with just enough spiritual juice to keep them going for another week of getting their batteries drained.

I challenged them to begin a L.T.G., to read the Scriptures deeply (20 -30 chapters a week), to talk about life it's difficulties and sins they succumb to along with praying for individuals and families to come to Jesus. After 30 minutes of discussion, questions about what I was challenging them to do and some hesitation, we parted ways with hugs.

Both of these friends stated that they needed and wanted to be 'abiding in Christ'. They both wanted to let the life of Jesus flow through them and onto others. They both knew it was a struggle to make the time to pray, read, meditate and soak in the Word of God and in the presence of Jesus. They wanted it, but life screams for more of them and Jesus simply invites them to follow Him. Screaming demands for time often wins out over the loving invitation of the one who purchased us for Himself.

How can we gain a heart that is desperate for Jesus? How can the Word of God become alive to us when it feels like a text book? What does it take for our spiritual hunger to grow to the point of driving us to God for more? How can I help my friends cross the line between the screaming of life and the invitation of Jesus. When will Jesus be enough for me, and for them?

I want to say thank-you to the folks at VLC for allowing me and providing for me to be in Atlanta this weekend. Because of their support for me, we (I and VLC) are able to affect the friends above and a whole bunch of other saints here in the Atlanta area for the Kingdom expansion of God. I'll try and post more later on what takes place here in Atlanta this weekend.

Walk Like An Egyptian, er, I mean Christian

Do you remember the song "Walk Like an Egyptian" by The Bangles? To walk like an Egyptian you had to...

Slide your feet up the street bend your back

Shift your arm then you pull it back

Life is hard you know (oh whey oh)

So strike a pose on a cadillac

We usually know how to walk like an Egyptian, walk like a monkey or walk Frankenstein but what does it mean to walk like a Christian? In many passages in the New Testament, we are urged to walk like a Christian (Eph. 4:1; Col. 1:10; 1 Thess. 2:12; 1 John 2:6). But just what does walking like a Christian look like? Is it merely reading the Bible, praying and going to church meetings? It will include those things, but walking like a Christian is so much more than that.

In the book of Ephesians, Paul instructs us to walk or live out our lives in ways that honor Jesus because we love Him. Here are the five areas that He lays out in which we should live out our lives in ways that reflect Jesus so that we will 'Walk Like a Christian".

Ephesians 4:1 Walk in integrity

Integrity has been defined as who you are when no one is watching. This is the point that Paul seems to be getting at here in Ephesians 4:1ff. Far too many Christians walk or live a lifestyle of hypocrisy instead of integrity. In this passage, integrity includes humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance love, diligence to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Every Christ follower should be living/walking out their lives with such integrity.

Ephesians 4:17 Walk distinctly

The way we live/walk should look differently than the world lives/walk. As you read Ephesians 4:17ff, you'll begin to see that Christians have been renewed and now have a new life and new, brighter morales, that should stand out from those who are not Christians. Our walk should be full of being others centered, love, service and hope.

Ephesians 5:2 Walk in Love

Here we find a central element to the Christian walk, namely, love. We should be selfless, sacrificial and sold out to be exhausted for the cause of Christ as we love others. Jesus set the example of great love for us (Phil 2:1-18) when He gave Himself up for us (Ephesians 5:2).

Ephesians 5:8 Walk in Light

When we walk in the light or ways that are pleasing and represent Jesus, darkness will be extinguished. We are told in Ephesians 5:8ff to not participate in unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead, expose them. This is exactly what light does, it gets rid of darkness and exposes those things that soil our souls. Walking in light brings greater joy and safety to the world we live in.

Ephesians 5:15 Walk as Wise People

It is very easy to walk in unwise manners which simply means doing the things that we want to do instead of those things we know are from God. Paul teaches us to 'be careful how you walk', there are many traps that would have us fall into their pits if we would walk in our own wisdom. Ephesians 5:15-21 give us some fantastic guidelines to consider as part of walking as Wise People.

So there you have it, five guidelines to be lived out as we Walk Like a Christian!

What do you think? I'd love to interact with your comments or questions.

Ten (I added one) Lessons on Loving People in Your Church

It is a grand privilege to love people and together learn to become more and more like Jesus. Loving people isn't always easy. In fact, loving people can be one of the most dangerous things to do - we get hurt so often when we love well. But loving people is what Jesus commands us to do and we are to be teaching each other to obey everything Jesus commanded us (Matt. 28:20).

Below you'll find Nine Lessons that I've been learning from the Apostle Paul on what loving people looks like. I hope they are helpful to as well in your continual discipling of people in your life.

1. Give thanks to God for the people with whom you are called to live out your faith (your church). In 1 Thess. 1:2, Paul says he always gave thanks for these believers. Pray to God with thanksgiving for individuals and groups of people will allow you to see them in positive ways and be endeared to their souls.

2. Remember the good things about the people God puts around you. It is easy to remember the bad things people do! 1 Thess. 1:3 teaches us that Paul focused on their work of faith, labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. We too often default to remembering the less than stellar things about people instead of the good things.

3. Verbally recognize the good that people do. 1 Thess. 1:5-10 sets the example of bragging about the good that people do in a public forum (that could be a group of 2 or 20,000 or more). Paul brags at how well the Thessalonian church was at sharing Jesus everywhere they went.

4. Love people as a nursing mother tends to her own children (1 Thess. 2:7). Recently I visited a new born and her mother in the hospital. The tenderness of the mom as she loved the child and brought the child to her breast to nurse her was amazing. This tender love should be a hallmark in our relationship to one another.

5. Sacrificial love is certainly needed as we engage each other to live more and more like Jesus calls us to live. 1 Thess. 3:8 tells us that Paul was so fond of the believers in Thessalonia, that He imparted not only the Gospel of Jesus, but also his own life because he had fallen in love with these folks. How can you and I give our own lives to those whom God has called us to come alongside and do church?

6. Be willing to exhaust yourself for the benefit of others (1 Thess. 2:9-10). Here we learn that Paul labored, endured hardship, worked night and day, proclaimed the gospel, and behaved devoutly, uprightly and blamelessly towards all of the believers.

7. Father people in the faith (1 Thess. 2:11-12). Paul exhorted, encouraged and implored each person just as a father would his own children. For that to happen, one must take seriously the role of disciple making. 1 Thess 2:12 says that one of the goals of loving people is so that they would live out their faith in a way that is worthy of the love of God for us.

8. Loving people includes checking up on them to see if they are doing alright (1 Thess. 3:1-10). Paul sent Timothy to find out an update on these believers in Thessalonica while he was away from them. Paul knew that hard times would come in their lives (1 Thess. 3:5) and he wanted to see if they remained focused on Jesus.

9. Encourages them to keep moving forward in their faith (1 Thess. 4:1-12). Paul instructs these people who are dear to him to not become complacent but to continue to strive and 'excel still more' in their love and obedience to Jesus (1 Thess. 4:1 & 10).

(Additional Lesson)

10. Affirm leaders for their hard work (1 Thess. 5:12-13) and guide people to stay strong in their living for Jesus (1 Thess. 5:14-15). Both require your observing their actions and engaging them where they are. This is not easy, but it is loving, helpful and will draw the body to become healthful.

What would happen if every believer actually followed Paul's example of loving each other like this in your church?

I've Been Asked This Question Alot Lately

This past week I've had lunch and coffee with several church leaders from around the Phoenix area. I've also been in conversation with many of the organic church leaders in our network of churches. It appears that God is putting the idea of reaching people for Jesus on the heart of His Bride here in Phoenix and beyond. I just got off the phone with a young organic leader in Minnesota who asked me about the same topic. The question goes something like this; "I am encouraged by the Spirit to be with people who are not yet believers but I don't have any friends like that. I'm so busy with life and church things, that I'm not with people who don't go to church. How can I change this?"

There is no right 'method' to tell these friends how to proceed, but there are some strong principles that need to be applied. It is my opinion that the question above is one of the most pressing questions on the church today and once that question is address in a broad scale way, the Bride of Jesus will begin to see more and more people streaming into the Kingdom.

"For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." 2 Cor. 5:14-15

We must begin with having/allowing the love of Christ to control us. If the love for anything else controls us, we will not be very concerned with others getting to know Jesus. When the love of Christ controls us, we then are able to no longer live for ourselves and our desires but we will begin to live for Jesus' desires which is certainly seeing people come into His Kingdom.

"Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as thought God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." 2 Cor. 5:20

We should be clearing time in our lives to be able to hang out with folks and make new friends. We are to take seriously our appointment as an Ambassador of the Kingdom of God on earth. Earth is not our home. We belong to the Eternal King Jesus Christ and to His Kingdom. As long as we do reside on Earth, we are to be Ambassadors of Jesus. As Ambassadors, part of our job is to spend time with those who are unfamiliar with the Kingdom of Jesus and tell them about the wonderful things of that Kingdom and invite them to also become part it too.

These two principles must take place if we are to become friends with people not yet in the Kingdom of God. We must allow the love of Christ to control us and we must take seriously the role of Ambassador that has been given to us by King Jesus Himself.

Does This Bother You?

The USA today is made up of Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and INDIVIDUALISM. I was talking to my friend, Jim Hocking who heads the ministry ICDI earlier in the week. ICDI's ministry is to drill wells in Africa for water in locations where people do not have access to clean water (BTW - it is a great ministry to invest a few dollars regularly!). Jim told me that when he brings his African friends here to the USA one of their questions is why do Americans drive cars alone! They cannot imagine why people would not be sharing rides, going out of their way to drop off friends or want to spend time with others while driving.

This individualism spills out of materialism and into our faith. We like to choose when we want to be the church (or go to a church to get together), how deeply we want to be involved or which areas of the Bible we want to obey. This individualism begins to creep into how we live. When it does unhealth is sure to follow.

There are many passages in the New Testament that urge us to live in a way that honors our relationship with Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 4:1 is like many others in the New Testament epistles (letters), "Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God...that you excel still more." How we live or walk out our faith is important to Jesus.

In 1 Thessalonians 3:8 Paul writes these words, "...for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord." Somehow Paul's faith and life was impacted positively when those he loved followed Jesus on Jesus' terms and not their own convenient terms. Is it possible to stand firm in the Lord and live with another person intimately before you are married? Is drinking too much alcohol a way to show that you are standing firm in the Lord? Can we stand firm in the Lord and spend our money all on ourselves and not be generous and follow the heart of God with our resources? When we don't take the time to spend with Jesus in His Word, worship and prayer does that equal standing firm in Jesus?

It is NOT rare today for people who claim to love Jesus and follow Him with their lives to live together before marriage. It is NOT rare today for believers to justify the grace given to them to drink more alcohol than they ought. It is NOT rare today for those who go to church services weekly to buy the latest gadget, car or clothing and yet don't seriously consider what it means to be generous with the resources God has blessed them with. It is NOT rare for people agree with messages about living for Jesus on Sunday morning and yet do not pick up their Bibles to read, study and apply its' truths on a regular basis. These truths bother me. Do they bother you?

A Harvest Report

If you have read my blogs for very long, you must know I am very interested in seeing people come into relationship with Jesus. It is my passion to help believers to understand that they are 100% successful, 100% of the time that they choose to share Jesus with people. In my opinion, the lack of a strong harvest in the West is due, in part, to a lack of seed sowing on the part of believers. We know the Scriptures teach us that in order to experience an abundant harvest, we must begin with abundant sowing (2 Cor. 9:6, Mark 4:1-20).

This past week, I have heard several stories of folks coming to Jesus. In Southern California, a church who has cobwebs in their baptismal (from a lack of use) is going to baptize 5 new believers this next week. That is because a few in that congregation has chosen to sow the seed of truth (Mark 4:14) into the lives of many. A house church leader recently met a friend through a mutual friend who wanted to talk about his failing marriage. Through a series of conversations (some at very inconvenient times), the man with the marriage problem repented, came to Christ and is now praying and preparing for his wife and children to come to Jesus. A large baptism is about to happen for those folks as well. I also heard a story by a friend who used to be a boy scout troop leader who reconnected with an old boy scout that was in his troop through Facebook. After some long conversations about life and the challenges the younger man had in his marriage, Jesus came into the conversation. During that conversation on the phone, the man received Jesus in his life. In a Facebook entry right after this event, the man wrote, "

"Today I asked for God to come into my life, surprisingly I feel that a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I asked him to help with my families current situation, and some personal problems that I'm struggling with being away from my family and all. I can't explain how much better I feel."

I also heard from an Indian friend of mine who lives in New Delhi. He told me that while he was on vacation he and his family invited about 35 family members over for a meal, conversation and to talk about Jesus. At least one family of those who attended the get together were Hindu. After a good meal, conversation and a message from the Bible, seven people raised their hand indicating they wanted to receive Jesus as their savior. One of the Hindu women were included in this group of seven!

All of these stories are results of many people planting the seeds of truth into the lives of people in desperate need of Jesus. There must be an abundant sowing before we can enjoy an abundant harvest. So let me encourage you today to be casting many seeds of the Gospel of Jesus into the lives of people all around you. Ask Jesus to guide you in how and to whom He would have you share. Watch and see the growth of these seeds. They will grow, not because of you, but because of Jesus (1 Cor. 3:6).

Just a few minute ago, while I was ordering some lunch at a local hangout, a young waitress whom I have been praying for came up to me, tapped me on the shoulder and asked me, "How can I pray for you today." That is a question that I have been asking her. Soon, this young woman will be in the Kingdom of God...that is my prayer today.

Take courage because Jesus goes with us wherever we go! Get out there and cast some seeds!

If you have a HARVEST report, post a quick snippet of what is happening in your neck of God's world!

A Holy Discontent

Several years ago, Wendy's fast food chain created a one of the most memorable marketing slogans ever when the elderly lady looked at her hamburger and sharply stated, "Where's the beef?" When one orders a burger with large hamburger buns, an equal sized hamburger patty should accompany it. When it doesn't, we know something is wrong. Wendy's supplied what was missing and put big burgers on big buns and the company saw a growth spurt in sales.

Today, many churches offer relevant preaching, theatre seating, hot worship bands and fast paced video clips to send our adrenal glands into overdrive. All of this is like a big bun with a small hamburger patty and causes many to say, "Where's the beef?" Or maybe better, "Where's Jesus?". To quote Len Sweet, the church has a strong case of JDD, Jesus Deficit Disorder! We need Jesus to be the central and only focus in our churches. Without Jesus, there is no church from a Biblical perspective. When there is JDD, we know something is wrong.

JDD

I currently have what I am calling a Holy Discontent in my soul because of this Jesus Deficit Disorder. I want the bride of Jesus (every believer) to be strong, healthy and reproductive. I desire for every believer to be in a strong and growing obedient relationship with Jesus, doing things His way, not their own way. I desire to see believers be sacrificial with their faith, with their stuff and with their hearts to all people. I desire for those who claim to be Christ followers to have an urgency to be reaching out to those not yet following Christ. This is the example that Jesus gave us to follow.

Jesus said "Follow Me and I will make you become fishers of men" (Matt. 4:19). We are not to follow pastors or denominations or our own whims, we are to be following Jesus and His teachings and His Word. This requires us to be personally responsible for our faith and not push that responsibility off to a pastor or other spiritual leader. As we do this, we grow and deepen in our relationship with Jesus, we can each hear His voice and follow His lead and that will lead us to be strong, healthy and reproductive.

When Jesus walked this earth, He had an urgency about Him and His purpose to get His good news out to everyone. You can see it in his response to Zaccheus climbing a tree to get a look at Jesus. Jesus saw him in that tree and said, "Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house" (Luke 19:5). Jesus had an urgency about Him here. He wanted Zaccheus to 'hurry and come down'. Jesus said that He "must stay" at Zaccheus' house that very day. Jesus was full of urgency to share life with people. Today, I see people with more of an urgency to take from the church than to share Jesus with others. This has left me with a Holy Discontent.

Christ who is our Life!

Living a Jesus filled urgent life by believers cannot happen by simply mustering up enough faith or committment to imitate Christ's urgency or passion. This never works. We must understand and rely upon Christ's indwelling Presence in our beings (John 15). We cannot do things for Christ by simply imitating His ways, we should allow Christ to flow and move through us, that is were the real life is! I am learning to stop pushing people to imitate Jesus and instead pointing them to lean into the breast of Jesus who indwells them and listen to His voice. Once one hears from Him they should choose to obey Him and let the indwelling Spirit guide them by His power. That will bring a Holy Contentment I think.

What do you think?

The Seduction From Words (Rough thoughts from a Passionate Soul)

Seduction is the act of enticing someone astray from right actions or belief.

There has been a shift taking place over the past several years in Christian circles. There has been a reduction of intentional verbiage about the message of Jesus and in exchange there has been a strong encouragement and increase in thoughts given to deeds of righteousness like serving the poor and mending the less fortunates fences. We are told by many that we must earn the right to be heard* before we give out the Gospel. Many today simply believe that they never get to the place where they have earned the ability to tell the story of Jesus or how Jesus has swept them off of their feet. They keep serving and praying but often not speaking.

In Mark 4:1-20, Jesus was very clear that his followers should be out casting lots of seed (the Word of God) indiscriminately. Jesus also teaches us that He will give us the best and most effective words at the exact time we need them when we choose to share the news about Jesus with not-yet-believers (Matt. 10:16-20; Mark 13:9-11; Luke 21:12-15). Paul teaches us that people cannot believe in Jesus without hearing about Him and to hear about Him there needs to be a proclaimer (Romans 10:14). Paul even prays that He will be given the words and boldness needed in his sharing of the good news (Ephesians 6:18-20). I've often wondered how many conversations Paul may have had where people called him crazy for wanting to share about a man who is also God and was mistreated, falsely accused, crucified, died, buried and rose again from the grave three days later.

Jesus taught us to love one another and the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31). John records Jesus teaching us that the world will know that we are His disciples if we love and care for one another (John 13:35). The story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37) certainly teaches that when we see a need we should step up and meet it instead of turning our heads away from challenging situations.

The seductive piece of my thoughts comes in watching how many in the church have for the most part, laid aside the speaking of the truth of Jesus for living the truth in the name of social justice and other good deed ideas. I really like social justice thinking and doing but somehow the church has largely been seduced to believing that our words are no longer effective. I do believe that we have much to learn about living out our faith instead of just being bloated with words about eternal life, abundant life, heaven and Jesus (hell is not mentioned much in today's Church). We really do need to have our deeds match our beliefs and our words, but does this need to be done in the absence or diminishing of words? Could it be that somehow we have been seduced into being quiet because it is more PC (politically correct)? The Scriptures are clear, without a proclaimer of this good news, people will not get saved.

There does need to be a synthesizing of words and deeds - a living out the words that we speak and the Word that we believe (1 John 3:18). Without the truth in our hearts, we cannot be set free. Without the planting of seeds (The Word of God according to Mark 4:14), we cannot have a harvest of souls.

So get out there and cast some seeds and love on people a whole bunch. Put action to what you believe and love large.

*You can find this thinking in "The Externally Focused Church" by Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson page 13

A Long Walk in the Same Direction

Long walks take time, effort and sacrifice. When you throw in another person or more, the challenge gets more difficult. Long walks with others often invoke strong conversation and we have some good examples in the Scriptures.

In the beginning, Adam took walks with God in the cool of the evening in the garden of Eden and you can bet Adam learned a lot. Abraham began a long walk with his close friends and family and they didn't know where they were headed but they learned to trust God. Moses had a long walk of 40 years in the wilderness with his family and God used it to shape Moses and the people of Israel. Jesus walked with His twelve disciples for three and a half years and we know of many of those talks and how profound they were in impacting the world. Long walks with others is a good way to look at how God develops people to become more like He is.



Taking a long walk in the same direction (towards Jesus) with good friends is a good way to describe discipleship. For too long discipleship has been reduced to books, studies and filling in the blanks. Knowledge and completing classes has been used to measure ones maturity but it is incomplete. Knowledge is necessary but applying what you know is learning and learning to be like Jesus can only be done in relationship. I can say this because we are made in God's image and God choses to exist in a community of three; The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What I learn from this is that living in community with a few for a long time is possibly the best way to encourage each other, and so much the more, as we see the day of the Lord drawing near (Hebrews 10:24-25).

Paul is strong about living our faith in community and influencing others towards Jesus. He strongly encourages taking life long walks (or at least a significant amount of time) with others. Learning from one another's mistakes and success' seems important to him. As we read about Paul, we rarely see him moving about in isolation. He is most often with a team of people who are laboring together to get the message of Jesus out to folks whether he is teaching in synagogues or sewing tents together to sale. Here is how he encouraged Timothy who was serving the churches in Ephesus.

"Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." 2 Timothy 2:22 (emphasis mine)

I know that taking long walks with others in inconvenient, they robs us of our personal time and space and intrude upon the privacy of our lives that is often highly valued by the western culture. But without long walks, strong conversations and mutual encouragement in the things of Jesus, I'm afraid we will not actually be helping people become like Jesus. And that is a key thing that He asked us to do - to make disciples by taking long walks in the same direction.

Are you taking a long walk in the same direction with anyone?

Sculpting Sound Doctrine

I've never really sculpted.  Oh, I've made a snake and a snowman out of Play-Do but I'm certain that artists would not recognize my work as actual sculpting.   I am however intentionally pointing out areas in peoples lives where a sharp chisel needs to be placed and then hit with a hammer to remove an edge or two.  I am attempting to sculpt sound doctrine into the lives of people.  Although I've not sculpted in marble or stone I imagine it takes a long time and a lot of care.  Sculpting flesh is a long process as well that is full of joy, pain, pausing and pursuing.  

In the book of Titus, Paul instructs Titus to "speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine."  Paul then goes on to talk about what 'sculpting' sound doctrine in the lives of people looks like.  It looks like older men have integrity and strong godly character.  Older women are to behave in a manner that honors God and to have their conversations full of grace and goodness.  Paul also says that sound doctrine looks sensible in the lives of young men and goes on to tell how sound doctrine should be lived out in the business world, the church and in regards to our interaction with governing rulers.  It should all look the same by the way, we shouldn't look/act one way on Sunday morning and another way in Tuesday's sales meeting.

I'm learning that sound doctrine, although full of truth and absolutes has much (maybe much more) to do with how we live.  What if how we live actually exposes the truth of faith in our hearts?  Can we go to church each week or read our Bibles daily and not really be concerned for the poor, widows and less fortunate?  Can we simply believe certain 'doctrines' and yet live how we want?  Should we be allowing consumerism to swallow us whole without a strong fight?  Should we horde our money instead of using it to spread love and help others.  Would Jesus encourage us to save for our retirement or to help out a widow who needs new windows in her home?

Whatever you think about my questions in the previous paragraph, do become active in sculpting sound doctrine in your life and the lives of others.  How we live does matter.  Faith without works is dead.  So get alive and spend your faith by living out sound doctrine.

Are You Observing?

I have to confess that I like to people watch from time to time.  I like to pull up a bench and just watch the people go by.  If I am with my wife, we have a good time pointing out people and wondering what they were thinking earlier that day.  

I will often just sit and observe with purpose.  My purpose is to watch what is going on in the world and to see how people respond.  I'll look at T-shirt slogans, I'll watch what people are attracted to in the mall windows or I'll watch how people respond to a little child or a homeless woman or a good looking man or woman.  Observing is a good way to learn.  

Paul practiced observing folks so he could know about people, their needs, thoughts, beliefs and weaknesses in order to help them move towards God.  In Acts 17:16 the Bible teaches us while Paul was at Athens, "...his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols."  Paul was taking inventory of way people lived in Athens and it was bugging him.  His spirit was provoked, he was uneasy, there was a spiritual battle ensuing around him so he took action.  He began conversations with people (v. 17) both in religious places (synagogue) and in the market place.  He did this everyday.

I can learn from Paul's example to take some time to simply sit and people watch.  I can observe how people live and what is possibly important to them by what they wear, who they are with, where they shop, how they talk and what they talk about.  This can then be used by God to begin conversations with people which may end up leading to conversions.  

Get out there and cast some seeds.

Church is a Who not a What*

" The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands...Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" Acts 17:24 & 1 Cor. 3:16

Church is not something you attend it is who you are as a Christ follower. That understanding of church changes everything. Church is not a service or a sermon or a hot worship band or a program. Church is the people who are called by God where Jesus' presence is their center point. They are a family who takes God's message and mission of redeeming His creation to the world we live in.

Even though many who are part of our church community know church is not a building or a service, some of us (me included) often fall back into default settings when we think about church. Here are some thoughts about church that I would like you to [re]consider...

• Instead of expecting to get something, expect to give something (1 Cor. 14:26).
  
• Plan on staying with your church (spiritual family) forever, only leave when Jesus directs you to leave, not when things get hard.
  
• (Phil 4:2-3). Leaving will become rare if this is practiced.
  
• Realize that wherever you go, you take the church with you (1 Cor. 3:16) so enjoy church all day, everyday!
  
• The church is the body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23) and Jesus is the head of His body (Eph. 4:15) so spend time listening to the head of the church. You'll find He is a good leader!
  
• Because you are the church, you can worship anywhere (John 4:20-24).
  
• You are responsible to live out your faith in consistent ways (Eph. 4:1).
  
• Don't go to church to be 'fed', feed yourself throughout the week (Col. 3:16).
  
• Church is not a building made with human hands (Acts 17:24) but is a temple made of flesh (1 Cor. 3:16).
  
• The church is not your pastor's or shepherd's or bishop's, it is Jesus' church. We should only refer to church as Jesus' church (Matt. 16:18).

You never go to church, you simply are the church!

Realize that because you are the church, the spiritual family (church) that you are part of will only be as strong as you are.

What do you think?

*Thanks to Reggie McNeal who I first heard coin this kind of lingo at the Organic Church Conference in February, 2009.

This Little Verse Bugs Me

"But as the church is subject to Christ..." Ephesians 5:24

Ok, what does that mean? This verse bugs me because it is hard to get my head around it. In this section of Ephesians, Paul is instructing wives and husbands regarding how they are to relate. This is the section where Paul says that "Wives are to be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord." (Eph. 5:22). The whole of verse 24 reads, "But as the church is subject to Christ also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything." So wives are to be subject to their husbands in the same way that the church should be subject to Christ. But how is or should the church be subject to Christ, that is what is bugging me.

In another post I shared that church is a 'who' not a 'what'. As a who, church is understood to be the people not a building or a service lead by a clergy person. So the church, being made up of individual Christ followers, is suppose to be subject to Christ but how can this happen in unison? Maybe the answer is in the word, 'subject'.

The word for subject is hupotasso and is a voluntary attitude of giving into, cooperating with, and yielding to the admonition or advice of another. That is helpful for understanding the concept and it certainly helps when I think about wives being subject to their husbands (don't miss Eph. 5:21 either). However, understanding the word does not help me to know how this is lived out. How can individual believers corporatetely volunteer to cooperate and yield to Jesus' advice when He is not physically here to converse with?

How does corporate subjection to Christ work out practically? How does a house church work it out? How does a group of house churches work it out? How do we subject ourselves to Christ regarding what happens when we gather together or deciding what we will do together missionally or what a focus for a specific time might be?

Can you help me figure this out?

Why Do So Many Spiritual Conversations Take Place on Airplanes?

I often hear stories about God conversations on airplanes.  I read about them in books, I write about my experiences in articles and tell about God conversations at seminars I teach.  Just a couple of weeks ago my friend Bill was telling about a recent trip he took and lo and behold he shared a spiritual conversation on the plane with the guy next to him.

I was at a conference and the speaker was talking about evangelism. He opened up his talk with a story about a Jesus conversation on an airplane.  My mentor in Evangelism, Juan Isais, often told stories of conversations he had on airplanes.

On my way home from Florida recently, Debbie and I were sitting in a plane with three seats on each side.  A man was sitting on the window side, Debbie and I had the middle and aisle seats.  I 'graciously' gave her the middle seat and settled into the aisle seat and began to read a book.  I was not very loving to place my wife in the middle seat next to a man so I deserved what came next.  Debbie leaned over to me and told me that she was going to the restroom that I should consider moving to the middle seat when she returned.  She was right and I made the switch.

About an hour later, refreshments were served and I introduced myself to my neighbor by the window.  His name was John.  I learned that John was returning from Central America where he was free diving and filming whale sharks.  He even got his camera down and showed me his pictures.  They were amazing.  

Once we finished talking about scuba diving and whale sharks, John asked what I do for a living.  The conversation quickly turned spiritual and I found out that John had some rough spiritual experiences and was in need of healing from those wounds.  I was able so share Jesus with John and I hope to connect with him more in the future.

So why do so many spiritual conversations take place on airplanes?  I think we simply slow down and are forced to sit next to strangers for long periods of time.  In that situation you either say little to nothing to your stranger neighbor or you enter into conversation.  When the conversation takes place and you are spiritually sensitive it just flows naturally.  The key seems to be we are slowed down and in a way forced to interact for long periods of time with people.  

My theory is that if we took the time to slow down and have extended conversations with our neighbors, co-workers or strangers at a coffee house or bar, we would be finding ourselves having spiritual conversations a whole bunch more often.  Why not give it a try?  Slow down, take a stroll when your neighbor is playing catch with his child and just begin to talk.  Watch what Jesus does and follow His lead.  Use you PhD in Missional Living :-)

A Really Good Question

I was sitting in a room full of high school students talking about the reckless, rugged and rejected Jesus of the New Testament.  I was not talking about the tamed Jesus of the western Christian church.  I was having the teens take a fresh look at Luke 10:1-3.  Here is what that text says:

 "Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.  And He was saying to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.  "Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves."

I began our discussion by asking these teens, none of whom I had ever met, to tell me something they were passionate about and something that they believed God to be passionate about.  Some were passionate about dance, music, writing, the opposite sex and so on.  As they talked about what they thought God was passionate about, they were pretty much in unison.  Their answers were about how God loves people, or wants them to love Him or wants them to know His Son etc.  After their answers, we began to talk about Luke 10:1-3.

I told them that Jesus was passionate about those very things that they believed God to be passionate about.  He was so passionate that He sent out 70 novices to carry the most important news of the world and to sort of pave the way for Jesus' coming into their towns.  Jesus was sending 'newbies' into unknown and probably dark places.  He sent them to 35 different locations (two by two).

Jesus told them that in those towns there was a great group of people who He knew were ready to come and realize that they needed Jesus.  The problem was that there were not enough people to send out.  Apparently 35 groups of two are not enough to get the job done.  Jesus told those 70 people to beg God (the Lord of the harvest) to send out workers into the fields.

Now where were these new workers to come from?  From the 35 cities He was sending His disciples to.  From Jesus' perspective, the next wave of missionaries (Christians) were not yet saved.  They were in the cities doing business, lying, being abusive, doing some good for their families etc.  Some may have even got drunk the night before and woke up in the wrong persons bed that morning, but very soon, they would know of their need for Jesus, respond to Him and become a harvester as a novice as well.

I encouraged the teens to be with those people who they felt the Spirit of God would lead them.  I told them that maybe those people would not be the nicer people of their school or work, but with those who are left out of spiritual things.  I also cautioned them that Jesus sent people out in teams of two.  In teams of two you can be accountable, pray together, encourage each other to leave if things get rough or people are drinking.  

As we looked at verse 3 of Luke 10, it says that Jesus intentionally sends out novices (sheep) into dangerous places.  We talked about the kind of shepherd who sends out defenseless sheep into the midst of a wolf pack.  Their minds were racing and the conversation was flying.

Then came the really good question.  "Ed, if what you are saying is true and we should be going and hanging out with people who are sinners and at parties and all, why do the spiritual leaders I know tell me to stay away from those people and those situations?"

It is a very profound question.  What would you say to this teenager?

THE POWER OF TWO OR THREE

(Note: Here is an article we just completed - I hope it is of some benefit to each of you!)

BY CHURCH MULTIPLICATION ASSOCIATES‐ NEIL COLE, PHIL HELFER, MIKE JENTES & ED WAKEN

It took six open‐heart surgeries to get Zac’s attention. While he was recovering from the last surgery, he sensed the call from God to initiate a non‐profit organization for young people. He explored and listened to the needs of his city to see how his burden for youth would fit. Zac buzzed around the city trying to start a few things, but none of his efforts were gaining traction. His heart grew for his city, particularly for the youth and their unmet spiritual needs. He prayed, planned, poked around, only to become provoked when he couldn’t break through. At this point of provocation, he met Brent.  

They had a conversation at one of Zac’s son’s baseball games and a special friendship was kindled. Brent was a believer and solidly involved in a different local church than Zac. As their friendship developed, Zac shared his heart about what God was calling him to do for the youth in their city. A huge smile came across Brent’s face as he shared a similar vision.  In short order Zac, Brent and their families joined hands in reaching out to the youth of their city.  

They prayed, strategized, networked and eventually formed a youth ministry (www.youarespecial.net) and youth council for their city. This youth council was recognized by the city council and now they directly report to them as well. The youth council offers a variety of programs to help youth and adults. They are not only investing in the lives of young people, but also into their families. People have come to Jesus and the city’s spiritual needs are beginning to be met.

Zac and Brent are regular guys who go to different churches, yet chose to link arms because of the common call on their lives to reshape the youth of their city. They both found a place to serve, God brought them together to partner and they have brought God’s plan of peace into the lives of hundreds as a result. Apart they both seemed to be spinning their wheels, but once God brought them together things began to happen.

The book Ephesians reveals that the church is the fullness of God on earth and He wants to use the church to fill all things (Eph. 1:23, 3:8‐12 & 19‐21, 4:7‐16). This can only be accomplished as every believer embraces their identity as an ambassador in the mission field where God has planted them. As we have seen in the story above, God’s divine work often begins by using two or three.

A THEOLOGY OF TWO OR THREE

In the Beginning God

This phrase is the starting point of the Bible: “In the beginning God…” (Gen. 1:1). Our God exists in a community of three—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It may not have been crystal clear when Genesis 1 was written, but from the whole of the Scripture we know that our God is not just one, but three‐in‐one. God was, is, and always will be the Trinity. We often

glide over such an obvious truth.  

It’s Not Good for Man to be Alone

 And the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion...." (Gen. 2:17). Prior to this passage God had called everything He made good: the sun, the moon, the plants, the animals, everything! Then He sees a person all alone and says, "This is not good." People are made for partners.  

While God is remedying the problem, listen in to the conversation: “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…He created them” (Gen. 1:26a, 27c). The beginning of the human race was a party of two (Adam & Eve) created by a party of three (Father, Son & Spirit). Every human family since has started with two as well!

Two or Three Throughout

The Bible often elevates a group of two or three to significance. For example, “One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” (Deut. 19:15) This is grace and wisdom in action. Protection from the ill will of one person is the purpose here.  The last phrase is important: A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three.  To see something established, it requires more than one.  

Both the Old and New Testaments mention the phrase "two or three." It is interesting that at least ten other times “two or three” is suggested as an ideal size at which to conduct ministry. The Bible does not say “two or more” or “three or less,” but regularly “two or three." Perhaps it is good to have some flexibility without too many options.  

In the wisdom literature, Solomon shares, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work… Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Ecc. 4:9–12) Solomon certainly advocated for groups of two or three.  

The New Testament contains several other Scriptural reason why two or three may be the ideal size for effective fellowship and ministry.

Accountability & confidentiality are stronger with two or three. Whether concerning an accusation against a brother or sister in the church (Matt. 18:15‐17) or an elder (1 Tim. 5:19), instructions around handling these issues requires two or three.  Two or three provide simpler and more balanced communication. When there are many voices, it is difficult to hear and difficult to speak. 

Two or three is the perfect size group for clear communication and for everyone to participate. With several perspectives, the group can have a more balanced conversation and conclusions as well. Paul wrote the following regarding gatherings of the church: “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church…two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time…Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said….For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” (1 Cor. 14:26–33) 

More flexibility is another strength of two or three. Most of us have had the experience of trying to coordinate the calendars of a handful of people. An advantage to a group of two or three is a better opportunity to actually schedule time together. In addition, Jesus says, “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (Matt. 18:20) Jesus makes the meeting when two or three come together, no matter where or when they are together.  

Extending Influence by Twos

A couple of important examples of the expansion of ministry appear in the New Testament.

In the Gospels

“[Jesus] sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.” (Luke 10:1b) The whole of this chapter is full of important items, yet here we will emphasize only this verse. Notice that Jesus didn’t send a core team, or an individual—He sent a team of two. This ought to encourage the most common person to engage in

ministry in the context of two or three.  

The spiritual accomplishment of these dispersed teams was so great that Jesus is “full of joy” upon their return (Luke10:21). Often people wonder, “How much can just two people accomplish?” It’s clear when these teams are directed by Jesus they can accomplished much—even making Him joyous!

In the Acts of the Apostles

In a gathering of five church leaders who were seeking the Lord’s face for direction, another insightful example occurs “The Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.” (Acts 13:2b‐3) Don’t miss that it was the Holy Spirit who instructed the group to send a team of two. Paul and Barnabas operated as traveling evangelists covering 1500 miles (Acts 13:4‐14:28) with much fruitfulness! 

We see in these two examples that as God seeks to expand His work in the world, He calls and He sends out workers two‐by‐two. Jesus describes the kingdom of God with the parable of the mustard seed, which starts small and then eventually grows very large.  “Again He said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade." (Mark 4:30‐32) 

The growth of the kingdom of God must start at the smallest grouping of two or three. Jesus reinforced that the kingdom must start small and grow via multiplication to have great and expansive influence. Not surprisingly, He is consistent with who He is and with His wisdom as articulated throughout the Scriptures.

EVERYONE CAN PLAY

Kylee and Tara were second grade friends in a public school whose hearts were soft toward the Lord. They were part of different churches and still decided to have a time together each week to share about what they were learning from the Bible, what was going on in life, to pray for others, and to play!

A classmate named Megan was intrigued that these two were getting together after school.  They told Megan what they were doing together and invited her to come one week. Megan asked her mom if she could be part even though they weren’t part of a church or even religious. She got permission and started coming to talk and play afterschool once a week.

As the weeks rolled on, Kylee and Tara continued to live out their faith in front of Megan.  Soon Megan decided to follow Jesus as well. She was led to follow Jesus by her two friends—kids who were ambassadors for Jesus. The group of three kept on going!

Chad and Missy were praying for Chad to find a good friend. On his first day of a new job, Chad met Ron and they hit it off immediately. In addition, another co‐worker named Stacey became friends with both Chad and Ron. Over time, it became apparent that Chad and Stacey were believers and Ron was not.  

Night after night Chad would tell his wife Missy about how much he appreciated Ron’s friendship. This couple, along with Stacey began praying for Ron’s salvation. Chad and Missy also shared Ron’s story with their house church and more prayers were being offered up for Ron’s soul.  

Missy invited Ron over for a meal, and Stacey as well. Together the all enjoyed conversation, laughter and good food. After several more months of prayer, connecting and conversation, Ron and Stacey were invited to Chad and Missy’s house for a church gathering.

Ron and Stacey came to that gathering. Ron had never heard about Jesus from the Bible. He never heard about creation or many other Biblical teachings. He was so full of questions and wonderment. God was stirring Ron’s heart and using Chad, Missy and Stacey to draw him to Jesus.  

All of this happened so naturally and effortlessly. They had a whole bunch of fun as two or three simply engaging common friends. After a few weeks of Ron’s involvement in the church gathering, the Holy Spirit convicted his soul, he admitted his need for Jesus, and committed his life to Christ. Ron is now sharing Jesus with his co‐workers, family and friends.

The power of two or three is part of the wisdom of God, chronicled in the Scriptures and is working itself out in the lives of Christians everywhere. Groups of two or three are a simple and powerful component of the growth and expansion of the Church. Won’t you step out with one or two others and be a part of God’s work?

Weblinks & Resources:

“Increasing the Workforce for a Greater Harvest.” By Neil Cole

http://cmaresources.org/node/211

“It is not Good for Man to Be Alone.” By Mike Jentes

http://cmaresources.org/node/200

“Multiplying on the MicroLevel: We All Began As a Zygote.” By Neil Cole

http://cmaresources.org/node/183

“Missional Success.” by Ed Waken

http://edwaken.blogspot.com/2009/02/missional‐success.html

“The Day of Small Beginnings.” By Mike Jentes

http://www.thequestcolumbus.com/emailarchive/email08.17.06.html

“The Networking of Groups.” By Neil Cole

http://cmaresources.org/node/65

“The Secret Source of Unlimited Leaders.” By Neil Cole

http://cmaresources.org/node/273

“Why Less is More.” By Neil Cole

http://cmaresources.org/node/64

Search & Rescue: Becoming a Disciple Who Makes a Difference. By Neil Cole

http://cmaresources.org/search‐and‐rescue

*Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION(R). Copyright ˝

1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights

reserved.

A PhD in Missional Living

The best education always includes more than theory.  As we continue to dialogue about having missional lives we must at some point put into action what we have learned.  I would love to hear stories about how you have applied some of the truths/principles that we have talked about over the past couple of months.  It would not only be encouraging to me, but it would spur others, who read your words, on to practice as well.  

For those who have yet to begin to implement the truths on these blogs, here is how you can get your PhD and graduate into the work force :-)

Paul had many practical things to teach those who were becoming disciples of Jesus.  On two different occasions, Paul requested for the same three things regarding putting into the action his missional understanding.  He actually asked believers in Ephesus and in Colossae to pray these three simple things so that he would follow through.  Paul certainly had his PhD in missional living and you can too as you pray these things for yourselves and for others.

Pray:  Paul need prayer.  Living missional must always be bathed in prayer.  As Paul was writing to the believers in Ephesus and Colossae, he requested the same prayer requests regarding talking about Jesus.  Listen to how he asks each group of believers.  

"...pray on my behalf, that utterance may be giving to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak."  Eph. 6:19-20

"...praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak."  Col. 4:3-4

Paul needed others to pray for him as he went about spreading the good news.  I am certain that I must continue to invite others to pray for me (as I pray for myself) to have the qualities Paul requested to have as well.  

Hear:  One of the things Paul prayed for was for clarity to hear from God.  Jesus promised to give us the right words at the right time as we talk about his grace, mercy and forgiveness to those not yet saved.  In order to receive those words, we must hear them.  Paul prayed it would be clear what he was suppose to say.  He needed to hear from Jesus and he asked others to pray for him to hear clearly.

Do: Paul needed to put what he was hearing into action.  Once he saw the 'door' and knew what to say he had to step into the situation and speak the words that were ready to flow.  He needed boldness and action to be effective so he asked for prayer for these things.  We do know a lot of Paul's story and the prayers of these saints for these things in Paul's life continues to pay off today.  Just think how effective your prayers will be as you pray for me, others and yourself to be able to hear and then do what Jesus says to our hearts!

Pray Hear Do - You now have your PhD in Missional Living.  Ask people to pray for you to hear from God as to where you should focus and who you should focus on along with the boldness to speak the words Jesus will give you.  Now go out and live it and then come back and share your stories with us.

A Surprising List of Things We Should Represent

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."  2 Cor. 5:17-21

An Ambassador is to represent the one who sent him or her.  It makes sense that an ambassador would know what the person who sent him/her thinks on subjects and what policies that person values.  A good ambassador then, mirrors the person or country who sent them.

With that understood let's take a moment to discover if most people who claim to be Christ followers are good ambassadors of Jesus and heaven.  Let's take a look at what were important to Jesus when he walked this earth and then you can decide if you area representing him well or if you need to make some adjustments.  Ready?

Disclaimer: The following list is certainly not complete.

• Jesus struck up conversations with people who were really good at sinning in some foul ways like stealing money from people, adulterers, drunkards, swindlers all around not good folks Mark 2:15)
  
• Jesus surrounded himself with people from the lower level's of social and moral society (Matt. 4:19, Mark 2:14, )
  
• Jesus wasn't always happy with the religious types (Mark 3:5).
  
• When Jesus became popular, he often moved on to share the good news with others (Mark 1:35-39).
  
• Jesus went to places that were taboo to his peers (John 4).
  
• Jesus obeyed what he heard his Father tell him to do (John 4:34 & 12:49-50).
  
• At times Jesus allowed his life to be dictated by the needs of others (Luke 7:1-10 & Mark 5:1-20).
  
• Jesus was committed to spending time with his Father (Mark 1:35).
  
• Jesus enjoyed supplying the best drink at parties (John 2).
  
• Jesus told people the truth (Matt. 4:17).

So how are you at being an ambassador of Jesus and heaven on earth?  I am sure hoping to adjust and improve!

Balancing Act

"Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others."  2 Corinthians 5:11 (NLT)

In my last few posts, I have talked about following the lead of the Spirit as you move through life for the sowing of much Gospel seed.  By doing so, you will see crops rise from the dirt.  For many, they read posts, books, attend seminars and have conversations about these sort of things and somehow conclude they should take a more laissez-faire approach in living missionally.  Paul seemed to have a different understanding than a laissez-faire mindset.  We would do well to learn from him.

Many in the church are reacting to what I call 'forced evangelism.'  Forced evangelism takes place when a leader decides that an organization is not seeing enough evangelistic activity, often measured by the lack of new believers.  The leader embarks on finding a great way to increase the gathering in of souls.  This is not a bad motivation but at some point, the leader chooses a method to employ and then handcuffs the people to it.  Whether intentional or not, the people affiliated with the church now feel compelled, bad or even forced to apply the method of evangelism suggested.  This comes in the usual ways of canned or cold turkey approaches that really do not fit either the mindset of the Christian or their prey.

I can understand the swing away from forced evangelism to a more relational evangelism.  Relational evangelism often ends us as an excuse to not share the truth about Jesus with our words, "we'll just make friends and then they'll know we are Christians."  There must be pieces of ground in the middle of these two ends where Jesus can be shared naturally and with a strong work ethic.

In 2 Corinthians 5:11, Paul says he works hard to persuade men.  This sounds like it could fit into the forced evangelism camp but keep reading.  In verse 14 Paul says, "Christ's love controls us."  This is the key to being bold and relational in sharing Christ.  When we come in touch with the deep love of Jesus in our souls, we can do nothing but be compelled to talk about Jesus as often as possible.  A heart that has fresh understanding about Jesus' love for us always responds with sharing His story with others and inviting them to walk with Jesus too.  

It is my strong belief that Jesus gives us opportunities to talk about His love for the world daily as we engage people.  It is the reason we are here on this planet, not only to receive eternal life but to invite others to receive it too.  Jesus gave His life for this privilege.  Is his love compelling us?  If it is, we will be about our Father's business which is being ambassadors for the Kingdom of Heaven.  We'll explore that idea next time.

Amazing, Startling and Brilliant

When I think about God's Missional heart, His wildness is simply amazing, startling and brilliant.  Over the past few posts, I've shared with you some amazing truths about what God has called each of His followers to - a missional life.  But God does not call us to be missional without giving to and placing in us every tool we need to be effective.  Here is a short list of what every believer receives at the moment they become a believer...

God's Authority: Matthew 28:16-20 teaches us that all authority on heaven and on earth was given to Jesus and that Jesus will be with every believer for eternity.  If we connect the dots, the authority that was given to Jesus is in each of us now and forever.  This is enhanced when we remember these verses teach us about our missional purpose which is to be making disciples throughout our lifetime.  This directive from Jesus begins when we become His follower and never ends.  Jesus gives us His authority to us to be successful in this disciple making process that begins with telling people the truth of the good news.

God's Power:  Acts 1:8 instructs to understand that when we become a Christ follower, we receive the Holy Spirit and His power.  This power is explosive!  The word for power here is actually the word we get dynamite from in English.  This explosive power from God is for the stated purpose of being witnesses to the world for Jesus Christ.  God sends us out with His authority and then He gives us His power.  How effective, supportive and amazing is that?

God's Mind:  1 Corinthians 2:1-16 teaches us that God freely gives us what we need to know to be effective in sharing the good news with anyone we come in contact with.  God knows all things about all people.  God lives in us because we are followers of Jesus.  God promises in this section to give us what to know, say or do to be effective dispensers of the good news in each situation.  1 Corinthians 2:16 teaches us that we have the '...mind of Christ."

God's Words:  Jesus knew that people would worry, fret and be fearful when it came time to tell about the wonderful things Christ has done for the world.  Jesus knew exactly how to take care of the problem in a powerful way.  He removed these concerns by giving His children the exact words to say at the right time to have the right effect in their lives.  You can find these verses in Ephesians 6:18-20, Matthew 10:16-20, Mark 13:9-11, and Luke 21:12-15...and there are other passages laced throughout the Old and New Testament.

Those are some wild guarantees from God.  He promises all of them to us so that we can be wildly effective as we share the good news.  I think it is very clear that God wants every one of His children to have fun and be successful in giving away His truth generously.  

Let me encourage you to teach everyone you know these four simple and yet wild gifts that every follower of Christ receives at the moment the give their lives to Jesus Christ.  He certainly is amazing.  Jesus ensures that as you obey His promptings to share Him with others that you will be successful in amazing ways.

I would love to hear stories of what happens after you teach these truths to folks or what happens in your life as you put them into practice.  E-mail me!

Missional Success

Every follower of Jesus is to be living missionally (see my previous two posts for the support of this statement).  To live missionally, from a Biblical perspective, is to be on the lookout for ways to give away the message and love of Jesus.  If we have this mindset, we will begin to see a plethora of opportunities on a daily basis.  As you move out in with this mindset, you will be overwhelmed with joy as you realize just how much Jesus is enjoying watching you farm the soil of souls for His Kingdom.  

Success in the church world often is equalled to the growth of numbers.  We read through the book of Acts and we see 3,000, 5,000, and multitudes of people coming to know faith in Jesus and we assume that if we are doing things right or well, that we too will see at least some significant growth.  We also look at Mark 4, the parable of the sower and the seed, and we yearn to find the 'gold mine' of the fourth and productive soil.  But we often do not stop at the fourth soil.  We desire for the largest harvest of the fourth soil, the '100 fold' harvest mentioned in Mark 4.  These are not bad desires.  If we think that success is mostly understood with numbers or largeness, then most will be sad, disappointed or even angry.  Most believers follow after Jesus with strong hearts and do not see this type of 'success.'  

When Jesus was arrested, tried for crimes He didn't commit and eventually crucified, everyone abandoned Him and Peter denied he even knew Jesus.  At the end of Paul's life, we read in 2 Timothy 4 that everyone deserted him and some of those people simply didn't want to pay the price any longer (see 2 Tim. 4:10).  If numbers often speak of success, then Jesus and Paul were not successful.  But numbers are not how we should measure success.

Success from a Christians perspective should be measured by obedience, faithfulness and humility in our following of Christ Jesus.  Our culture is so focused on 'success' and 'growth' that we often forget that we are NOT responsible for the results.  God may even allow you to do everything right and well and still not have the results in numbers that desired.  He may do this to help you realize that it really isn't about you, your personality or your methodology.  On the other hand, God may watch you do many things in screwy ways and choose to bless you with amazing abundance.

Allow me to quote just two short passages to help you understand that growth or numbers are not the measuring stick for success.

"After all, who is Apollos?  Who is Paul?  We are only God's servants through whom you believed the Good News.  Each of us did the work the Lord gave us.  I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.  It's not important who does the planting, or who does the watering.  What's important is that God makes the seed grow.  The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose.  And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. "  1 Cor. 3:5-8  NLT

"Jesus said, 'The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground.  Night and day, while he's asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does  not understand how it happens.  The earth produces the crops on its own.'"  Mark 4:26-28  NLT

In both these passages, the one who sows the seed is obedient - nothing more.  After planting the seed or watering the seed, it grows under God's direction, all by itself.  The farmer does not know how it happens.  He is clueless and he often is asleep on the job!  That sounds like an inviting job description to me.

So in order to be successful at living missionally, all we have to do is to be obedient, faithful and humble to tell people the Good News with the words that Christ puts in our mouth.  We must have a focused life that is looking for the opportunities that Christ puts in our path and when we spy them, we should share whatever Christ gives us to say.

So go out and be successful by being obedient to the missional living Christ has called us to and has already equipped us to do.  Jesus is responsible for any results and that takes the pressure off of having to be 'successful.' 

So what do you think about these thoughts?  Feel free to leave a comment on this blog or send me an e-mail.

Next time let's look at what Jesus promises everyone of us when we engage in sharing the Good News as we live missionally.

Missional Examples from the New Testament

Being missional is normal for all believers in the New Testament. To be a Christian and not being missional is like a person who claims to be a guitarist but has never picked up a guitar. It just doesn't make sense.

When we think about people in the New Testament who lived out their lives missionally we often think about the bigger names. We think of folks like Paul, Peter, John the Baptist, Philip and Barnabas. We often place these men in the superstar category of Christianity. They certainly were strong believers, but many of them stated that they were just ordinary men who chose to obey what God called them to do.

But there are lesser known or more obscure men and women who set missional examples for us to follow today. Allow me to highlight a few very ordinary people who set the example of living missionally for Jesus.

*Andronicus and Junias (Rom. 16:7): This man and woman were outstanding missional people. They were well known as apostles (which means sent ones) and their work caught the attention of Paul who mentions them here in Romans. Many people have never heard of them but here we find people who lived out what it meant to be sent out.

*Many Unnamed Believers from Thessalonica (1 Thess 1:5-10): These newer believers were reported to have; become imitators of the Lord, had much tribulation, became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and beyond, spread the word of the Lord everywhere they went so that Paul had no need to say anything. Now that is living missionally. What were their names again? Right, they are nameless.

*The Handicapped Man (John 9): Here is a story of a man who was born blind, was healed by Jesus, probably as an adult, and then he went and confounded and confused the religious leaders of his day right after his sight was restored. He wasn't educated, wasn't trained by a Pharisee nor did he have much time to learn anything about his new faith and freedom. He began his faith living largely missional.

*The Nameless Immoral Woman (John 4): Here is very loose woman had previously lived with several men and was currently living with a new guy. She met Jesus at a well, learned about living water and went back to the city to tell everyone to come and hear Jesus. She intuitively began her walk of faith in Jesus with a missional bent.

*Lois and Eunice (2 Tim. 1:5): These two women poured their faith into Timothy (son and grandson of these women) which then began his journey to being missional as well.

*The Unnamed Saints of Acts 8:1-4ff: Here we find all of the 'common' people (I hate those terms) who scattered out of Jerusalem because of persecution and went to the surrounding areas where the Gospel of Jesus Christ spread like wildfire. The leaders or apostles remained in Jerusalem and everyone else fled and became missional in unknown places.

Over and over again, we see the 'everyday' people of the New Testament being missionally focused. They were not waiting for a pastor or apostle or missionary or seminary graduate to come and do the missional work for them. They knew that they were chosen by Christ, anointed by Christ and sent by Christ to proclaim the truth of Christ everywhere they roamed.

Do you think that the 'common' people of Christ today believe they are to live missionally? Why or why not? I'd love to hear from you.

Next time, let's discuss what success is when we live missionally.

Confusion on Being Missonally Minded

Jesus was clear and He gave a clarion call to those who would choose to follow Him. Here are but a few clarion points from the mouth and life of Jesus regarding His desire for His followers to be strongly missional.

"I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves." Matthew 10:16
"Go and make disciples of all the nations." Matthew 28:19
"As the Father has sent me, so send I you." John 17:18-20
"He called them to Himself so that He could be with them and send them out." Mark 3:13-14
"He sent them ahead of Him into every city and village that He Himself was about to go." Luke 10:1
"Follow Me and I will make you become fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

It appears to me that many believers today are confused about the idea of being missional. For many, church has been demoted to a meeting, a sermon or an experience. This is completely opposite of being missional. Gathering together as followers of Jesus in meetings is important and necessary, but it is NOT the focus of being the church. The Apostle Paul strongly instructs us that "Christ is our life." (Col. 3:4). This can only include that everything we do should be focused on Jesus Christ. He is the Head of the Church, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe so it follows that our whole attitude should be focused upon Him and His clear focus for our lives on earth - to be missional.

It is true that in the church there is confusion on this issue. I would say that much of the confusion comes from the enemy of souls, the Devil himself. Living for Christ is a battle for souls and a focused life upon Jesus. Our command by our King is to be on the offense. We are to storm the gates of Hell (Matthew 16:18) and we are told that those gates will not prevail in holding back our attack for the souls of people. On the other hand, the enemy of our souls is about killing, stealing and destroying people (John 10:10). The Devil is all about deceiving and confusing people to look elsewhere for their purpose and focus of life. There are many tactics used to distract us from a missional way of living and thinking.

Some of His tactics include fear, discussion on gifts of the Spirit, leadership, the purpose of the church, busyness, the desire to be accepted and the list could go on. Let me briefly expand on each of these tactics used by the Devil and see if you have bought into any of them at one time or another.

Fear: This is the belief that no matter what you say or how you share the truth of Jesus (words, deeds or a combination) that you will be a failure or not able to complete the task with success. Many people believe that it is better or easier to just keep our mouths and lives shut. Someone else will do it.

Spiritual Gifts: Many have written that only a few folks have the gift of evangelism or are gifted Evangelists. Therefore the overwhelming majority of believers are 'off the hook' from having to share their faith in any strong way...whew!

The Purpose of the Church: Often the purpose of the church is simply to bless and worship God which usually is interpreted that we do not need to be aggressive in sharing Jesus. We come together, get blessed, sing Jesus songs, hear a sometime good and sometimes boring talk and go home feeling good about our experience. We'll leave the missional part to missionaries, evangelists and pastors.

Busyness: There are many very active believers in churches across the world. They are busy doing ministry for the Church and her people. So busy in fact that there is little time to think about being missional and charge the gates of hell. The busyness is actually a relief because they are no longer responsible to take ground and batter the gates of hell, they're busy.

The Desire to be Accepted: There are also those who do not wish to share Christ because it may just muddy the waters of a good friendship. Better to have a friend who thinks I'm cool and than to offend him or her with the Gospel of Christ.

Of course most folks don't want to be confused on things Jesus has taught us. Most, I believe would rather obey Christ than fight Him. However, the enemy has been powerful to distract and confuse the bride of Christ away from being missional for way too long. Being missional is the strong example of the believers focus right through all of the New Testament. We'll take a peak of some of those examples next time.

So what do you think about the confusion around being missional? Jot a note, a question or leave a comment.

Missionally MInded

It is a conversation at many events, prayer meetings or conventions that I attend.  It is the topic of a growing number of books these days.  Many conferences on the church today include a keynote speaker on the subject of being 'Missionally Minded'.  Whenever I see a pattern like this in a sector of society, I start to wonder what God is up to; why does He have everyone talking about it.  There must be a reason. 

Most often when subjects like this come up on everyone's radar, Jesus is trying to get the attention of His bride.  He wants her to pay attention to the message and adjust our course to align with His heart.  Being on mission is certainly on the heart of Jesus - it always has been.

For a long while the church has focused on good things that mostly have to do with looking at herself.  Things like worship, spiritual gifts, church growth and equipping people to do a better job when the church is gathered.  When missions (different than being missional) is highlighted, it is still about us in our churches giving money and praying for new frontiers, but it is most often not common people doing the work, they are to support it.  These are not bad things and we need to be reminded of them, but losing a missional perspective can quickly kill the momentum of the church and I believe we have been stalled for sometime, at least here in the West.  

But what would happen if everyone were actually doing life missionally, right where they lived.  I know Jesus is urging His bride to live in a reckless, missional manner as He did.  Just think about how He lived and how He mentored His followers to live.

- He pushed the religious limits (calling leaders 'white washed tombs' won't win you friends in those circles).

- He sent young, immature, rookies into the fray of wolves (think about the Garasene Demoniac in Mark 5 or the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8)

- He pushed untested disciples to cities Jesus Himself had not yet traveled (cf Matt. 10 & Luke 10)

- He followed the Spirit of God and wasn't Politically Correct

The list could go on.  Jesus certainly was wild in how He lived out His life in the presence of many witnesses.

The New Testament tells us that the common everyday believer (that is you and me) are to be Jesus' witnesses everywhere they go (Acts 1:8).  Every believer is an ambassador (2 Cor. 5:21ff).  We are all part of the royal priesthood designed to proclaim just how great Jesus is (1 Peter 2:8-9).  You and I are to go through life helping people to become more and more like Jesus, baptizing them once they come to Jesus and teaching them everything Jesus taught us about Himself and how to live out our faith (Matthew 28:16-20).  These are the basic purposes that every believer is to excel in.  These qualities are to be normative for followers of Jesus.  

Unfortunately, these things have been reserved for the more elite saints.  For those who are 'called' to do these things.  But this wrong understanding of Scripture is quickly losing traction.  We must stop being 'me' or 'us minded' and begin to be missionally minded, following the example of the Jesus Himself.  Jesus' example of living was to imitated by everyone.  Jesus was able to multiply fish and bread to feed multitudes and I don't know of anyone who has been able to do that, but we can be hospitable, looking to see the needs other people have and to have compassion on folks when they are in pain.   

No matter what our vocation is in life we are to be on mission.  The mission includes loving people well, treating them with respect, encouraging them in life, modeling a life that brings glory to God, and speaking to them with words that point them to Jesus.  We need to become passionate again in our faith.  We must begin to follow the example of living that Jesus gave us.  He was always looking upon people with compassion.  He constantly and patiently mentored His followers to see the needs in people and then meet then as you can.  This was stretching to them, exhausting to them and painful for them - as it was for Jesus.  

Being missional is who every believer is to be.  Keeping our minds missional is and will always be a challenge.  But why?  I'll share some thoughts about that next time.

"My Life Is Screwed Up!"

Well that is not exactly what she said to me, but you get the idea.  This person's life is scattered, tattered and battered.  She knows that many of her decisions over the past few months have been poor.  As I listened to the confession of this friend my heart and soul ached for her.  In my mind I was wondering if this person was asking for answers or just wanting to get the dirt off of her chest.  Should I probe deeper or let the aroma of her own pile of manure fill the air?  There was silence in our conversation.  I so wanted to help, but I so didn't want to get my head bit off for over extending counsel that wasn't being sought.  Sometimes, listening is all that is needed before godly movement begins.  

People often times confess their sinful choices because it does bring a sense of relief temporarily and because they are hoping to hear words that will give comfort.  But when the counsel or advice isn't what they were hoping to hear they often walk away with sadness, anger or find a way to make you the source of their problem.  

In Mark 10 we find the story of the Rich Young Ruler.  This man came asking what he needed to do to enter the kingdom of God.  Jesus' answer wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear.  This rich young ruler wanted to hear that he was a good dude that was on the path of heaven.  What he heard was "...go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow Me."  This young man was not willing to do that so he walked away sad.  The very thing he wanted, eternal life, was there for the taking and he left it.  The relief he sought would never be found by going his own direction.

After that moment of awkward silence between my friend and myself, I asked her if she was looking for me to listen or if she wanted my insight.  Her answer was "Well you know I didn't mean to dump so much on you."  That is code for keep the counsel to yourself in case you didn't get it :-)  I responded by saying it sounded like she knew God was speaking to her and she should follow the Spirit's leading.  Her response was that she knew her life was not being invested well.  She was lamenting but not wanting to move.  It may not surprise you that this was about the twelveth conversation on the exact same issue over the past 8 months.  

There are so many people who want their lives to be different but don't want to do anything differently.  They seem to love to complain about how bad things, how they are not close to God and how they long for the 'good 'ol days' but are not willing to take actual steps (like repentance, humility and commitment) towards recovering what was lost.  This gets very tiring to me, hearing folks talk about what they are doing wrong, but do not want move towards doing what is right.

Repentance is a good word, not a bad word.  When repentance happens, healing begins - immediately.  It is God's kindness that leads us to repentance but we need to be willing to follow through.  Following through from the spot God asks us to jump from is something He will not for us.  So if your life is 'screwed up' and you know God is nudging you to jump, just do it (thanks Nike).  You'll be glad you did.

Firsts

I'm in Southern California bringing in the New Year with family and friends.  Southern California is my old 'stomping grounds'.  This is where I grew up, went to grade school, to high school, met my wife, met Jesus, was baptized, where all of my children were born, raised and became Christ followers themselves.  Southern California is where many 'firsts' happened for me.  

Southern California is where I took my first breath, received my first spanking, was first sent to the principles office.  It was here that I got into my first fist fight, where I first kissed a girl, where I received my first pay check, where I was first fired and where I first fired someone.  It was here that I preached my first sermon, where I first officiated at a funeral and did my first wedding.  

It is in Southern California that I surfed my first wave, got my first sunburn, bought my first car (a 1964 VW Bug), got my first traffic ticket, saw my first concert, bought my first TV, skied the first time and where I first broke a bone.  We all have experienced many firsts in our lives.  They are each significant and foundational.  As I sit here in "It's A Grind" on Candlewood Blvd. in Lakewood California, many of my firsts flood my mind.  But all of these firsts draw me a conclusion.

First experiences lay a foundation to be built upon.  2009 will also bring many firsts and I pray the firsts that I experience in the next 365 days will lay a foundation for myself and others.  I pray that 2009 will bring in a greater focus on Christ in my life and a greater focus on being others centered and more generous.  I pray that this will be the first year that I am last and that this attitude will last the whole year and beyond.  

Be faithful, fruitful and finish well in 2009.

Non Sequitur

Non Sequitur: Latin for 'it does not follow'.

So, I was reading in the Gospel of Mark this morning for my LTG (Life Transformation Group).  I was reading along in chapter 3 and found these words...

"...He said to them, 'Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?'  But they kept silent.  After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, ' Stretch out your hand.'  and he stretched it out, and his hand was restored."  Mark 3:4-5

That is a pretty cool story.  Here was a guy with a messed up hand, couldn't be fully productive and probably had to rely on everyone else to do many things for him.  Jesus tells this guy to stretch out his hand and a miracle.  His hand was restored and useful.  You can imagine the glee that must have been all over this guy.  You would think that the religious leaders, the Pharisees would at least be happy for this guy for minute...even a second, but no!  The next verse is a non sequitur for me - it does not follow, does not make sense, is not coherent and probably, I'm a lot like this too!

"The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him."  Mark 3:6

This response does not seem like what should have been happening after this guys hand was restored.  What kind of people see miracles happen, right in front of their own eyes and go out and start plotting to destroy the guy who healed the withered hand?  What kind of hearts do they have?

It also doesn't follow that I have seen God do so much in my life and yet I often take it for granted.  Now, I'm not going out and trying to get back at Jesus as these guys were, but  I find myself often doing what I want instead of doing what I know Jesus would prefer.  I find myself going in directions that it shouldn't.  I'm glad that Jesus was 'grieved at their hardness of heart.'  I know Jesus may be grieved as he looks at me at times and I know He is praying for me.    Yeah, my life is often a Non Sequitur when it comes to living for Jesus...and I want that to change.

Calculating Faith

With many losing their jobs, pensions, equity and investments it makes sense to sit down with our finances and calculate how to protect what funds we have left. But what does that say about our faith?

Admittedly, there is a balance between being good stewards of our resources and being generous with our resources; with calculating how to be safe and with placing faith in God who is our provider. How can we be generous and wise when things are rough financially? Is it possible to become even more generous when things are tight when we look at our checkbooks?

Certainly many (some reading this now) 'calculated' and took out equity loans to buy things or pay off other debt. For most, that has not turned out to be such a good calculation.

Certainly there are more opportunities today to bless people than in many years. There are people who need assistance with their electric bills, car insurance, groceries or small home repairs. If we choose to be generous, many seeds of the Gospel can be sown into lives we could have never touched before these difficult times.

So how about you? Are you living by faith or by calculation? What does that say about where your faith is focused? How about your house church? Have you begun talking about being more generous to meet the needs of friends and strangers? What is Jesus saying to you and to us? I doubt it is to calculate more.

Growing Up

I walked my six year old grandson to school the other day.  It was cold morning in Phoenix so we invented ways to keep our hands warm as we walked.  The best way we found was to pull our hands up into our sweatshirt sleeves and make a fist.  Once we figured that out, Parker leaned into me and said, "Pop Pop, I'm almost as tall as you are" as his head bumped into my elbow.  We laughed and talked about what it is like to grow up.

Parker told me that one way he is growing up is that when he began school, he didn't know anyone.  He shared that he was a little scared on the first day of school.  Now he reports that he has lots of friends and how they came over for his birthday party and how they play together on the jungle gym in the school yard.  He also told me about many of the things he is learning in school and how that is a way he is growing up as well.  He said that school and new friends are a little scary, but necessary because he wants to grow up.

As I thought about that conversation, I began to realize that for six years old, Parker is very wise.  He didn't allow the fear of new things to stop him from embracing them.  He doesn't mind stretching himself because he has a thirst to grow.  Parker told me that he can't wait to turn seven and get taller and grow up more.  What six year old doesn't want to be seven and in first grade?  

With growth comes challenges, pain and hardships.  Parker is learning this in school and life and so far, he is choosing to embrace those challenges, pains and hardships because he wants to grow.  He doesn't want to stay in kindergarten.  That is way of life in a simpler form isn't it.  In my experience, it seems that as people become adults, their growth often becomes stunted.  Growth for adults comes in a variety of ways like maturity, knowledge, dealing with past wounds, becoming more responsible and so on.  To often in my experience, adults are not so excited to 'turn seven'.  Many are content to not grow, it just seems easier that way.  

I think we can learn some things from Parker's outlook on growth.  We should face it, embrace it and work through it.  We might even want to get excited about growing.  I know as well as you know that it is always difficult to grow (change), but just like you, I know that it is best when I do.

I'll bet that there is an area or two in your life that needs to enter a 'growth spurt'.  Maybe you have sensed God's nudging you to move out in a new direction or at a different (more difficult) level.  Why not follow Parker's example and face it and embrace it.  It will be good for your soul and those you rub shoulders with as well.  

As we turned the corner on the way to school, Parker wanted to race to the cross walk.  We took off running and Parker took the lead.  I almost caught him, but he won...again!  One day, he will actually beat me in a foot race and that will be a great day because it will show, once again, that growing up is something to be excited about.

Pursuing a Mystery

Debbie and I were watching "Without A Trace" the other night. Without A Trace is a T.V. mystery drama where a person vanishes from their family and friends and the F.B.I. then gets involved to solve the mystery of the missing person. There is something riveting about mysteries of all kinds.

The Bible talks about mysteries, things not fully understood, veiled or that needs the help of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Timothy 3:16, Paul says that "...great is the mystery of godliness." A few verses later Paul goes on to encourage his readers to "...discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness." (1 Tim. 4:7) and a little further in his letter he instructs his audience to "...pursue...godliness." (1 Tim. 6:11). So what is the mystery that we should be pursuing with discipline?

Godliness can be the quality of ones life. To be godly is to have qualities in your life that are likened to God. Qualities like love, purity, selflessness, faithful, kind and the like. Godliness can also speak of the content of ones beliefs. This seems to be the emphasis in 1 Tim. 3:16 when it is read in its' context. Therefore godliness can be both what we believe (truth) and living out the qualities of what we believe.

To be honest, the truth about Jesus being 100% God and 100% man is quite impossible. That is without God and His supernaturalness. This truth is a mystery. How can a man also be God without any imperfection, sinful thought or activity? The resurrection is another truth that is mysterious. How can a person who has died not only be raised from the dead but also raise himself from the dead (John 10:17-18). These two mysteries are only the beginning. These type of mysteries can only be believed, embraced and defended by a supernatural changing of ones heart by the Holy Spirit (another mystery as to how this happens). One can know the facts, but believing them in your soul is quite impossible without the Helper, the Holy Spirit (John 14:26, 15:26).

Becoming a true follower of Jesus Christ is more than knowing that Jesus was born, lived a sinless life, was crucified, died and buried and then rose again three days later. Knowing these facts are important, but they alone do not transform your soul. Simply knowing these things do not transfer you from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Jesus (Colossians 1:13). There is a difference between knowing truths in your head and knowing them in your heart. That 18 inches between the two can only be tranversed supernaturally, by the power of God Himself. If you have not had that experience yet but you know you believe the truth stated above about Jesus, then I encourage you to call out to God and ask Him to deliver you from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved Son, Jesus Christ. If you do that, be ready for some mysterious (positive) changes in your life.

So let me encourage you to pursue the mystery of godliness. Pursue both the truth of Jesus Christ and living out of that faith so that your character, over the time of your life, becomes more and more like Jesus Christ. How that has happened in my life is great mystery for which I am eternally thankful! Pursuing this mystery is a lifetime adventure.

The Rest of the Story...

Want to see pictures and a video of our trip?  Click on HERE!

Well, I'm home and recovering from jet lag.  There is so much to tell you and yet I'm sure that if I write a book full of information, many of you will not be willing to read so much.  I think I'll give you some bullet points of information that will fill in most of what happened in Raipur.  If what I write is not sufficient for you, please write me and I'll send you a fuller report to enjoy.  Here we go....

- While we were in Raipur, we had major Indian political people staying in the same hotel we were in.  This group represented the Hindu side of the political spectrum.  The hotel had many armed guards (with machine guns) and metal detectors.  It was pretty scary to see at first.  The benefit was that we received a double upgraded room.  Thanks Jesus!

- I taught about 7 hours on Tuesday, November 11th.  It was a grueling day and I was tired at the end of it.  The first few hours was full of gaining the students respect and connecting with them.  There were about 50 men and 5 women in attendance.  We spent about 2.5 hours dealing with deep questions and fears that these people had with the principles we that were being taught.  The rest of the day was spent in deep spiritual battles that needed to be broken.  After teaching, we went back to our hotel rooms with machine gun guards in place.  We had dinner and then went to our rooms and prayed together for God to break through the students pride.  We also had a great time of laughing.  Jeffery is very funny - my side still hurts!

- Wednesday began much like Tuesday with lots of question and opposition.  About 2 hours into the teaching, I was overcome by the Spirit of God to directly address these people about their opposition.  I had shared much truth with them and they only had tradition to combat the truth from God's Word.  I spoke clearly to them that many of them were Pharisee's, holding to the traditions of men and not to the Word of God.  I spoke to them how these things were holding them back.  I have rarely felt the Spirit of God so strongly.  God broke the spiritual strongholds.  Jeffery had a prophetic word for us from Isaiah 43:19-20 earlier in the week.  Those words of refreshment were beginning to flow.  God is amazing.   The rest of the day was amazing, free and full of rejoicing.  In the middle of day two, Matthew was smitten with a similar illness that I had on Saturday.  We prayed for him and he was instantly healed and was able to continue with translating the teachings.

- At the end of day two, the men began to come up to both Josh and myself for hugs, handshakes and prayer.  God was on the move.

- Day three, Thursday the 13th, began much differently.  There was freedom and a powerful and favorable response to the truth.  God was moving and I was rejoicing.  At the end of our teaching each of the men came up to us for hugs, handshakes and prayers.  We must had spent 45 minutes to an hour just praying for the men and women individually.  Friends were formed. Prayers were offered and God continued to heal.  

Josh and I made it home safely, exhausted and spent emotionally, physically and spiritually.  I know that our efforts and  your support will have several generation of affects upon India and beyond.  The spiritual battles fought and won were amazing.  God is good - He always is.

While I was gone great things were brewing in our church, ValleyLife Church here in Peoria, Arizona.  Two new house churches began, a strong move forward in going deeper with God continued and a list of folks coming close to salvation was shared with me.  I'm so grateful to God for His mercy and blessing.

Thanks again for your involvement in this adventure.  Your prayers and support made it all possible.  If you have further questions or would like more detail, feel free to e-mail me at edwaken@cox.net.

A Prophet Visited Us

Today is a travel day. We are flying to Raipur this afternoon where we will be learning together with leaders for the next three days (and then home :-). Our time in Raipur may be the most rich and/or difficult stop in our adventure. Before I tell you about the prophet, let me quickly fill you in on what happened on Sunday.

We began the day going to church. It was a very traditional (industrial - thanks again for the Mike) church. Except for the Indian accents, I could have been in a start up church in Phoenix. But God was beginning to do something new there. I shared with the church how the day of the Ordained is over and they should embrace the day of the ordinary believer doing amazing things. The people were excited. After church, we went to lunch with several folks and near the end of our time, I spent some time with the Pastor. This conversation spilled over to coffee back at Matthew's house which spilled over to dinner and further conversation. The Pastor and his family left for home about 9pm. It was a long day, but it wasn't over...

During our 7 or so hours with the pastor, we talked about many things regarding Organic Church. He was very open and it seems that the Lord is opening his heart for new things. We will see what God will do through this man in the months ahead.

SIDE NOTE: Days like today where we spent hours together in conversation, sipping coffee, eating snacks and enjoying 'community' is very normal here. I have not watched but 30 minutes of T.V. on the day of the U.S. elections (I am not having media withdraws). And I can hardly believe that the children I have spent time with do not watch much T.V. either. The two boys in this home (ages 9 & 12) have only watched 30 minutes of T.V. and that was on Saturday morning. They do not have gaming systems like Playstation and spend their time doing other fun things like football, cricket, playing their guitar or keyboard. The family culture is very different here.

So our visit from the prophet. A friend of mine from San Jose, California happened to be in Delhi the same time we are. I did a Greenhouse (Organic Church) in his church in April and we have connected ever since. Mike arrived at Matthew's home at 9:30pm and we spent about 1.5 hours talking and sharing stories. At the end, Mike invited us to pray for one another and so we did. When Mike prayed there were two main emphasis'. The first prayer emphsis was that I would be like Philip the Evangelist from the Book of Acts as we go to Raipur. He prayed that we would be as powerful in words and deeds as Philip was. He also prayed for Josh to be like Barnabas and encourage the work of God that we are about to do. The interesting thing is that this very much confirmed to Josh what Jesus had already spoken to him before we left for India. Josh knew his role would be to support and encourage myself and those we spoke with - he has certainly done just that. It is a blessing that he is with us. The people who have spent time with Josh are amazed at how mature he is and only being 30 years old and for knowing Jesus only a few years. God is good. We'll see what God does in Raipur...I'm sure it will be amazing.

I'm not sure if I'll have easy internet access in Raipur. We will be staying a hotel and our schedule is very full. Please pray for us to have clarity as we present the principles of Organic Church and please pray that we will be powerful in our love and dealings with the people there. This adventure has been fantastic...you can have not idea.

Once I return, I'll tell you about several miracles that we were told about and how God is moving in amazing ways here in this land. I'll write as soon as I am able.

Blessings,
Ed

Fever, Chills, Kidney Stones, Spiritual Warfare and Healing

Thank you for your prayers! They are so valuable to us during these days. The Lord is doing amazing things and I cannot wait to come home and tell you more detail. Yesterday, I woke up with a headache and feeling pretty yucky. I took some Advil and things calmed down. Much of the rest of the day was spent in strong conversation about internal and relational issues here in India. I could sense that healing was necessary for this ministry to move forward with power. About 2pm, we had to make a run to the airport to pick up one of the board members and on the way, I started to feel terrible. By the time we returned, I was feeling very sick. I went and took a nap and that is when the chills came upon me and I felt like a wet noodle. I knew that we had a very important meeting that afternoon and so got out of bed, ate some light food and then we sat down to talk about 3:30pm. That meeting did not end until 7:30pm and it was a spiritual battle. There was some tension between two people and we needed to sort it all out and get to the root and cut it out. The Lord was gracious to allow us to get to the root and destroy it. I felt such relief at the end of the meeting.

The two who had the issues ended by feeding each other a cookie, much like we might see at weddings when the cake is cut. This was a cultural and symbolic event that says we have settled it and we are friends to support each other. God was so good. My friend, Josh, sat there and prayed the whole time which was so precious. At the end of the meeting he said a few words that were very powerful and helpful to the healing process.

During the evening, Jeffery had to go back to the room he was staying because he was having some kidney pain. In the middle of the night, he passed a kidney stone. He actually showed it to us this morning and boy, did it look like it would have been very, very painful.

This morning I'll be teaching at a local gathering and this evening, we'll enjoy an Indian wedding which should be a treat. Tomorrow we will travel to another city to teach on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. These have the potential to be the most difficult days from a spiritual perspective. Your continued prayers for our strength, wisdom and power in the Spirit are so needed.
Blessings,
Ed

You'll Never Believe it...

Right after I entered my last blog (this morning for me), we left to walk to another apartment in the same complex to have breakfast with Matthew's aunt and uncle. We began breakfast about 9am and left their home about 2pm. What took place in those five hours was amazing!

Breakfast consisted of pallappam (a flat bread like cake similar to a tortilla made of coconut milk, egg and yeast) and some stew that sopped up in the pallappam. It is a traditional south Indian breakfast. Yep, we ate using only our hands. So after breakfast we ended up just conversing and I thought we would leave about 10 am. But the Lord had a different plan. This couple had a son whose name was Rinson. Rinson passed away about a month ago. He had suffered his whole life from Muscular Dystrophy. Rinson was 21 years old. They were obviously sad.

At one point, we were talking about church and they brought out a brochure about their church and the new building they wanted to build. They even asked us to give some funds to help with the project. We then began to talk about church leadership and how this couple felt like they could only attend. We walked through some Scriptures and landed on Matthew 28:18-20. I began asking them who is responsible to disciple people. They said, we are all responsible. I then asked who is responsible to baptize, their first answer was the priest or pastor. I asked them what this verse teaches us. Their answer was that they could baptize and teach people about Jesus. Smiles began to shine on their faces. We then talked about communion and they quickly understood that they could enjoy communion on their own without the assistance of the priest. Now the smiles were brilliant.

This family attends a high church that is fairly formal. The auntie asked me why pastors and priests have held this information from them all their life? I could not answer directly but encouraged them to pursue Jesus with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength. With that, I asked them to bring some more pallappam and some juice. They brought the bread out covered with a clothe and the cup also covered with a cloth. After putting the bread and cup down, I asked the husband, John, to pray and serve the bread and cup. His mouth almost dropped. He responded, "I cannot serve the holy elements of the bread and cup". After some more discussion, John agreed to pray and serve the bread and cup with four pastors - and he beamed as he served us.

At the end of our time together, John and his wife, Anna, actually hinted that they may even want to begin a church in their home. It was an amazing time where the Holy Spirit was certainly in charge and moving powerfully in our hearts. John and Anna joined us for a short worship time at Matthew and Suma's home. God is moving.

We also met another man who is doing organic churches in the villages in North India. It was exciting to hear about what God is doing in amazing numbers in the lives of those outcasts of the world. Your prayers are working - thank you so much.

Blessings,
Ed

Attacks

I knew it would happen. I received a call last night from my wife, Debbie who told me that she has had 2 gall bladder attacks. These were very painful episodes. She had our daughter, Bethany, stay at our home in case she had to go to the ER and leave Rachel with Bethany. The attacks subsided at this point. We gathered together here to pray for protection and healing on Debbie, I'm trusting the Lord is responding with love.

The people in this land are full of bondage to so many things. This culture is full of idols and false gods that hold people in fear. We have seen a few temples where ugly worship of statutes and books take place. Women are often treated as second class citizens in the villages due to the concepts of reincarnation (one would prefer to come back as a man and not a woman) and the caste system, although illegal, remains strong in the rural areas. There is also bondage to shame, cheating and manipulation almost everywhere we look. But God is powerful to break every bondage and everything raised up against His name. I am reminded of Paul's words that say, "...and such were some of you, but have been washed...".

Pray strong for us. The hardest work is yet ahead.

Blessings,
Ed

Hello! Thanks for praying for us as we are experiencing some wonderful discussions in these days. I have been meeting with some folks and we have had some amazing discussions about organic church principles. It seems that God has been preparing many people to receive these principles and those folks are excited to expose others they know to the principles. We are already invited to come back and 'infect' other people with the organic church principles.

Tomorrow we will be meeting with both directors of Evangelism in Depth ministry here in India. These will be very important meetings to hammer out some of future needs current challenges.

Saturday we will be meeting with the Evangelism In Depth - India, executive board to talk about how we can mutually support each other to move the Gospel forward in our countries.

Sunday we will be teaching in a local church. Please pray for their hearts to be soft to the new things that we will be sharing with them.

Josh and I are adjusting well. We each have had our stomachs yell 'enough', but we keep on pouring more of this wonderful food down our mouths. We could use some sound sleep, but we are managing. We are all feeling a sense of attack as we near our trip to our second stop. Please be in prayer for open hearts of the students and clarity of presenting the truth on our part.
No sickness and we are feeling strong - your prayers have been, are and will be needed. Thank you.

We have been learning much about the culture, religions and people. It is a dark place that needs much light.

Getting Adjusted

The pictures will have to wait until we return. I am sorry about that. I forgot my connection things to get the get the pictures off of my camera and onto the internet. We had a good day yesterday that consisted of discussion and rest. I learned many things about the Evangelism in Depth ministry here in India and we will continue our discussions today and tomorrow. These will be very important discussions as we help move forward the ministry in India in powerful ways. There is and will be much spiritual distraction regarding these issues - strongholds have a tendency to die horrific deaths. I love these people and they all want to honor Christ and move forward for His Kingdom's glory. We may get a chance this afternoon to travel to Old Delhi and see some more culture. The food is amazing and wonderful but my stomach is beginning to say something like, "hey dude, do you KNOW how much new spices you are pouring down your throat".

Please pray for this weekend's meeting with the Evangelism In Depth board members. We have some very important things to discuss and solve. There is much excitement that evangelism in depth is something this land needs deeply.

Love to you all,
Ed

Safe in India

It is 12:30am Tuesday morning and we have had little sleep. We are praying that sleep comes quickly tonight. Our flight was long, about 16 hours, but uneventful. There were a bunch of cheesy movies that 'could' be watched...I mean, endured but it help to pass the time. We landed in Delhi and proceeded to get our baggage, we exchanged our dollars for Rupees and exited the airport to find my friend Matthew. After a half hour of searching, we finally connected and began to drive to Matthew and Suma's home. Delhi is building huge new airport and there was much dust in air near the airport, so much so that it looked like fog and you could smell the dust in the air.

Both Josh and myself felt a sense of anxiousness as we waited for the plane in Chicago but I knew that ValleyLife was praying for us and I received a call from Clive Craigen in Chicago and his house church began to pray for us too. The peace of God warmed our souls and the anxiety left us.

We will try and sleep now and tomorrow, I'll write some more and try to upload some pictures. Our plan for Tuesday is rest and recoup from a long hard and profitable seminar over the last weekend and a long fight.

Thank you for your prayers, love and support for this trip. May the Lord be glorified through all that we here in India and where ever you are.

Blessings,

Ed

Safely i

"In the Beginning..."

Our beginning of this adventure has been amazing!  Josh and I have been in Chicago for the past three days teaching Organic Church principles.  We taught about 40 people and they really responded well.  Your prayers were answered sweetly by Jesus - Thank You.  At the end of the teaching, the whole group gathered around Josh and myself to pray for us as we embark on our International trip.  Pray that tonight we sleep well on the plane and then go to sleep well once we arrive.  Please also pray for spiritual protection and for our families as we travel.  We are on the winning team!  

Bon Appétit

I enjoy eating a good meal.  Recently I was sitting at a high top table across from my bride of 30 years and enjoying some fantastic Fish and Chips at a local Irish Pub, yum.  The Irish Pub reminds me of eating a great Shepherd's Pie at a Pub in London called, Sherlock Holmes.  I remember feasting on a Lebonese meal made of green beans, lamb and long grain rice that my Grandma used to make.  My moms meat loaf makes my mouth water.  Debbie and I have a fav restaurant in Long Beach, Ca. called Shendendoah's Cafe where we enjoy a Riverwalk Steak or Free Range Chicken and the apple fritters - OMG!  And then there is anything that my wife cooks, bakes or BBQ's.  She is an amazing 'chef'.  

Eating food is energizing, relaxing and the conversations that take place around food is most often as satisfying and fulfilling as the food itself.  Relationships are deepened over a good meal and life is encouraged to move forward.  Eating is certainly good for us.

Our souls also need to be filled and satisfied.  Our souls need to eat and there are some fantastic meals available for us in the Word of God.  This morning I was feasting on Psalm 8 and 34.  I can sense my soul wanting more even now.

"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him."  Psalm 34:8

The Word of God invites us to sit down and feast at the table of true soul food.  If we will sit long enough to sample, to taste, we will discover that the Lord is good and our lives will be blessed.  There are so many amazing meals prepared for us in the Word.  Here are a few hor dourves from the Word of God.

I love the 'joy' that Philippians feeds to our souls.  The book of Ephesians is a wonderful letter about the church, her power, prestige in God's eyes and purpose.  The four Gospels are full of Jesus stories that will be sure to stir your soul and challenge your life.  There is wonderful poetry throughout the Old Testament but especially in the Psalms.  Reading the Psalms is like going to a huge smorgesbord.  There is such a variety of topics covered that you will surely find something to satisfy your hungry soul after spending some time there.  If courage is something you are craving for, take a look at 1 & 2 Samuel.  The list could go on and on and on.

Enjoy food for your body and your soul every day.  You'll grow strong bones and muscles that will provide you with health for your whole life.

Bon Appétit!

What Does it Take to Make a Disciple?

What does it take to make a disciple? Just before Jesus took off from earth to heaven, He gave the charge of a lifetime to eleven men who walked with Him for 3 1/2 years. Here is what Jesus told them;

16 "Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted! 18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:16-20

How this is to be done is not said in this passage. I think they were to take all that Jesus had done for them and how He discipled them and pass it all along to other people. Those people should then take the same way of living and information and pass it along to the next spiritual generation - and so and so one.

That seems like quite a lot for a bunch of nobodies to accomplish. They had no text book, just what they had experienced...and yet...these eleven ordinary men did exactly what Jesus told them to do. But they had some help.

About 50 days after Jesus flew off to heaven about 120 followers of Jesus were gathered together in a upstairs room waiting for what - they just were not sure - but Jesus told them to go there and simply wait. Here is what He said to them;

4 "Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:4-5

What did they understand when Jesus said just go and wait until you are baptized with the Holy Spirit? They probably were not sure, but I guessing it was a focal point of many conversations around the table in that room during those 50 days.

Once the Holy Spirit fell upon them, everything changed. Now these very ordinary people were very super ordinary! Now they were empowered by God Himself to go and make disciples everywhere they went. We learn in Acts 2:38-39 that the Holy Spirit that they had received in Acts 2:1-4 is available to every generation of people who choose to follow the ways of Jesus.

What this means is that every single believer from the moment they are part of God's kingdom is capable (competent 2 Cor. 3:6) to effectively find people who need Jesus, lead them to receive Jesus and help them to rely upon Jesus for everything they need. This is what making a disciple is in essence. The relationship, apparently, is to continue so that you can impart to this new follower (disciple) of Jesus everything that Jesus has taught you. This would include teaching them how to learn from Jesus themselves.

My desire in writing this is encourage you to know that you are able to make disciples just as well as the first eleven disciples did. How can I say that? Because you have the same equipment that they had, the Holy Spirit. Maybe you have never 'discipled' anyone, now is a great time to start obeying what Jesus has told us to do. Because He told (commanded) us to be doing this, I assume it should be an intentional action for every believer to accomplish throughout their life time.

Next time I'll share a tool that use to accomplish this disciple making task that Jesus has given to each us.

Who are You a Following?

Do people recognize you as having spent time with Jesus? For most believers, I think this is what they would like to be true about them. At least they know it should be true about them. It was true for Peter and John.

"Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognized them as having been with Jesus." Acts 4:13

Many might think that of course Peter and John would be recognized for being with Jesus, after all, they were Jesus' disciples. We often think that people like Peter and John are somehow different than we are. We think they are somehow more able to be just a touch more holy than we could ever be or just a little more powerful than God would allow us to be. If you have ever thought that, were do you get such ideas? We know from Acts 2:38-39 that we have the same Holy Spirit that Peter and John had. We also know that Jesus told Peter, John and others to teach everyone everything that Jesus taught them. In other words, if there were any secrets that Peter and John knew about being a good follower of Christ, they were commanded to cough up the goods. Well, the 'goods' is the Holy Spirit. The difference, I would say, is my and your submission to Him. Just how hungry are you for Jesus anyway?

Ok, so any believer can be recognized as having been with Jesus as they cooperate with the Holy Spirit and invest time and humility into the process. We can all be super saints but only if you are close, or getting close to the source which is Jesus Christ. And that is the key. We must each be a disciple of Jesus Christ Himself. We should not be disciples of another man.

When we read words like "...go and make disciples of all the nations..." we might read that we are to make disciples of ourselves but this would be wrong. We are to be helping people become disciples of Jesus. Just think, if Matthew was a disciple of Jesus and then Samuel was a disciple of Matthew and Marian was a disciple of Samuel and Gomer was a disciple of Marian...and on and on, you and I wouldn't even know who the original was. We would be a highly diluted imitation of what Jesus wants us to be. We must each be pointing people who want to be a disciple back to the source, Jesus Christ Himself. Then each copy has the potential to the as powerful as they are willing to invest their life into following Jesus.





So how about you? How close to Jesus are you? How close do you want to be? What stops you from getting that close to Him? Who is there around you who can help point you back to Jesus? I know for certain that Jesus is calling you to be more and more like Him. "My sheep hear my voice and follow Me." That is what Jesus tells us.

share that we should be disciples of Jesus and when we make disciples it is not disciples of us - that is only a week copy of the original - we should be making people disciples of Christ - it is enough that a student becomes like his teacher.

How Serious are You Taking this Task?

I'm on a discipleship kick - hopefully for life!  I have a lot of thoughts about discipleship rolling around in my head like marbles bouncing around a room with hardwood floors.  As I begin to think about discipleship, the word is really awkward to me.  I mean, what is a disciple?  In the business world synonyms for disciple or discipleship would be mentor or life coach, business coach or something like that.  We do know that Jesus had disciples.  Some were really close to Him (Peter, James and John along with the rest of the 12 Apostles) and some were a somewhat removed (the 70 mentioned in Luke 10:1).  

We know that just before Jesus ascended into heaven that He told us that making disciples (passing on our faith to others) is to be a focus of our life.  Some of the things that Jesus said were involved with making disciples are; to be baptizing folks who want to follow Jesus and teaching people to obey everything Jesus said (we should know and obey those things for ourselves).  Paul tells us in 2 Tim. 2:2 that we should be passing on to 'faithful' people everything that we have learned and observed and heard from our mentors/life coaches/disciplers.  We are also to instruct the folks we teach about following Jesus to pass it along so the ball keeps moving forward.

If you think about making disciples and what it entails (baptizing, teaching them to obey everything Jesus said and helping the learn to pass it along to faithful people who will in turn pass it along too), this is a life long job description.  This making disciples business cannot be done on the fly or in passing or be caught by osmosis.  It doesn't just happen.  I appears that Jesus and Paul intended this process to be intentional.  Jesus, Paul and others were deeply serious about our role in passing on our faith in ways that will strengthen people to pass it on as well.  Every believer should be taking this task very seriously.

How serious are you taking this task?

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"  Matthew 16:24-25

Making disciples is serious business.  If you are a follower of Jesus, it is a business that you should be involved in!  More on this next week....

Waiting for Change

Change can take a long time. I was at the check-out counter buying something I probably did not need when the guy in front of me used cash to pay for his purchase. I guess he had not seen the VISA commercial that teaches us that cash slows things down (see commercial below). I had to wait for what seemed like a long time for the person to stop and give the person their change. Change can take a long time.



I'm really not talking about the kind of change that requires money. I'm have been thinking a bit about how long it seems to take for people (me) to change. Most of us really do not like change (unless it is our idea). As much as we might often fight change, change is inevitable.  As I look in the mirror, I can see lots of gray hair near my temples, and what are those deep lines on my face?  Could they be 'wrinkles'?  They were not there 20 years ago.  As I look out my back window, the grass in my yard is changing.  I just mowed it on Monday and although it is only Wednesday, it is looking a little long.  If I were to open my Quicken check book, I would see all too quickly that much of money has changed hands.  My children are adults now, I have grandchildren, I used to live in Long Beach, Ca. and now I live in Peoria, Az...and on and on and on.  Change happens, but it still is often hard to cope with.  

I think change is most painful when I want things to change.  It is not so bad that things change, but when I want them to change or when change is being forced upon me, that is when change can be painful or at least, very slo o o o o  o  o  w.  There are many friends in my life across the country with whom I am praying for change in their lives.  Some wrestle with various dark thoughts, others are handcuffed because of some experience they have had and can't or won't move through, others are good at putting up roadblocks to healthy change that will enhance who they are as a person.  Some of my friends are just not ready to even admit that change needs to happen.  As I look at my friends, pray for my friends and trust that God will move through my friends I must admit that at time, I get weary from the waiting.  I feel like the Psalmist who cry's out, "How long, O God will you wait?"  I get tired of loving and loving and loving that seems to be met with resistance.  Do you have friends like mine?

So, what to do?  What I have learned is to keep waiting.  In my waiting, I find that God is actually 'changing me'!  I begin to learn, little by little, that God is truly involved in the change process in my friends life.  I find out that God surely wants my friends (and me) to change and become more like Him.  And not only that, but that He IS working in their lives (Phil 2:13) albeit sometimes at a painfully slow pace - at least to my standards.

I have found that people need to know that it is safe for them to change without being abandoned, made fun of or whipped into shape for trying to follow the leading of Jesus.  We ought to be patient with people as they change.  We should pray much for the process they are going through.   We should love them in strong ways never condoning sinful choices but always lovingly pointing to the cross of Jesus.  and we should have a deep hope and faith that God is on the move, even if we can not detect His movement.  If we would love each other like that, how different would our world be?  How different would our church be?  How different would I be?

Seventeen Years is a Long Time

Have you ever waited seventeen (17) years for anything? In our 'you can have it your way' world we often get out of sorts when things are not our way or if we don't get them right away. Our cultures 'have it your way' concept has been embeded in our commercials (and in this blog :-). Just look at this Burger King commercial from 1976.


For most us, we somehow feel like we deserve whatever we want the way we want it and when we want it. In many of our drive through fast food stores, we find not one, but two windows to serve us. One takes your money and the second window hands you your order all in the name of getting you what you want fast. Basically, we are spoiled! We have lost the discipline of persistence. Persistence has become a pesky word to many in the West.

But persistence is exactly what Jesus prescribes for us in prayer. Jesus often is on the opposite end of cultural thinking: "The first shall be last" vs. "He who dies with the most toys wins", "If you want to be great you must be the servant of all" vs. "Do whatever you have to do to get on top", "If you want to save your life, you have to lose it" vs. "Save yourself", and on and on and on. Jesus' Kingdom is upside down and inside out and so it is with prayer as well.

I know that many times I am so indoctrinated with our cultural concepts that I begin demanding God to move or in someway answer my prayers NOW (yelling intended)! I usually find silence for the answer. At other times I find myself praying for 'a while' only to let the ideas, desires or requests fade off into the forgotten places of my mind. At times, God doesn't seem much interested in my requests. But that is never true. Yeah sure I feel that way but it is never true. So what is true about prayer and the pesky concept of persistence? Let's see...

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it shall be open to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8

You may already know that the Ask, Seek and Knock ideas would be more accurately stated like this, "Ask and keep on asking...Seek and keep on seeking...Knock and keep on knocking." That spells persistence! Through persistence, God is developing in us strength, dependence on Him and the character of sticking to things that really matter.

In another passage Jesus has these words about prayer,

"Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart..." Luke 18:1

Jesus again hits us with the idea being persistent. We are to be in prayer at all times and we are not to give up...PERSISTENCE. So get persistent in your prayers. Write them down, journal your requests and answers and pray, pray, pray until something happens. Jesus promises that if we ask and keep asking, it will be given to us (the answer that is). If we seek and keep seeking, we will find what we need. If we knock and keep knocking doors will be open that we are to walk through but we must be persistent. Many prayers may not be answered because we have not been persistent.

I prayed for a particular issue for seventeen years and then God answered it. Seventeen years is a long time, but the answer was so worth the wait. If you ask me, I'll tell you that story sometime.

But I Don't Know What to Say!

Most every follower of Jesus that I rub shoulders with want to see people come into relationship with Jesus Christ. In my last entry, I shared that although most believers befriend people who are not yet believers (a good thing) they still need to begin spiritual conversations with their friends if they are going to find people of peace and see what God does in their lives (Matthew 10:1-20).

When I share with my friends that they need to be 'inquiring' about their friends spiritual journeys or thoughts and that they should begin spiritual conversations, the number one reason that I am told why they do not 'inquire' is that they think that they do not know what to say. The next most popular reason I hear about in my informal survey is a concern about saying the wrong thing. My quick answer to that reason is that to say nothing is the only 'wrong thing' that can be said - or this case, not said.

I certainly do understand that folks have fear about sharing their faith (Jesus understood this too by the way). I do not want to go into too much detail on this because hopefully you'll be able to read my thoughts in detail when the book I'm working gets published (Probably some time in late 2009), but for now, let me give you a quick overview of the truth that the Word of God gives us regarding sharing our faith.

Let me begin by dispelling one very strong myth in the Western world that I think reinforces our fear instead of relieving it. The myth is that you have to "...earn the right to be heard." I have been reading many contemporary books on Evangelism and most of them state this truth in one way or another. No where in Scripture does anyone ever teach that you have to befriend someone for a period of time so that you can 'earn' the right to share truth with them. Jesus often gives us a much different example. Jesus did not befriend the blind man in John 9 yet at the end of the story he seems to be worshiping Jesus. Jesus doesn't befriend the demoniac in Mark 5, in fact, by Jesus healing this guy Jesus makes some enemies (not very befriending) and when the demoniac wants to be with Jesus (to be his friend), Jesus tells him 'no'. That is just two examples of Jesus not 'earning' the right to be heard and yet sharing truth with his non-friends and in these cases in very direct fashion. The teaching that we must earn the right to be heard before sharing Jesus is a lie and I believe it stifles people in their witnessing. Because many folks have believed that they need to earn the right to be heard, the begin to ask if they have invested enough into this person in order to share Jesus? Have I earned the right to share Jesus with them? What if I haven't earned the right and they get mad? If I have to earn the right to share Jesus and if I haven't actually earned it yet and I share Jesus with my friend, they might walk away from me and I'll be hurt." So let me be clear...

"YOU DO NOT HAVE TO EARN THE RIGHT TO SHARE JESUS WITH ANYONE!"

In fact I would say this; Everyone has the God given right to hear the gospel. Besides, Paul teaches us that the power of God to salvation is not with the person sharing, it is with the truth of the Gospel itself (Romans 1:16). Ok, enough of that, let me give you a brief overview of what the Bible does teach us about freedom in sharing our faith - remember, this is a brief overview and not an in depth teaching.

1. Jesus knew you would be fearful to share His truth and that you would worry about not saying the right thing or having the best way to present it. Because Jesus knew this, here is the summary of what He taught in the Gospels. Jesus taught that whenever we are in an opportunity to share the Gospel at very moment He will give you the right words in the right fashion to meet the exact need of the person you are sharing. How cool is that. Too cool to be true you might say. Well here is the Scripture to back it up. I do expect you to look up these verses (I have hot linked them for you) and to study them because if you do, you will be set free forever in regards to sharing Jesus with boldness, confidence and success...every time.

Matthew 10:16-20; Mark 13:9-11; Luke 12:11-12; Luke 21:12-15 ...and there are plenty more.

2. When you share the truth of Christ with folks, you can have complete and total confidence. Paul teaches us that every believer is a competent minister of the New Covenant (2 Cor. 3:6). That is a dynamic piece of truth. God considers you as competent to minister (deliver) the truth of what Jesus has done for us (the New Covenant) with those who need to hear about it.

3. Every time you open your mouth and talk about Jesus, the power of God pours out of your words. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit will come and live in every true follower of Jesus and one of the major purposes for this living inside of us is to give us power to be His witnesses in all the world (Acts 1:8).

So in very short order we have learned that whenever you share your faith that you have the right words at the right time for whom ever you are sharing. You have the confidence that God knows that you are competent when you share His New Covenant and you have the power of God flowing through you as you tell the truth about Jesus.

Remember that when you share it is not about you, it is all about Him. You do not determine if you are successful, Jesus has already determined that you will accomplish His purpose in the life of the person you are sharing with every time and that makes you 100% successful.

"For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for IT is the power of the God to salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." Romans 1:16

I hope this has benefited you in some way. Please respond with questions, comments or clarifications if you are so inclined. Jesus certainly has taken the fear of inquiring away (Matt. 10:11-12).

Blind Spot

As I talk with men and women across the USA, I find most of them deeply desiring to be discipling folks so that churches will emerge out of their efforts. I believe this is one of the better ways to begin new works for the Kingdom of God - inviting people to follow Jesus and walk with them as they learn to become dependent on Christ. This seems to start new Christians with the understanding that they are able to connect with Jesus themselves through prayer, Bible reading and study, worship and sharing their new found faith with their friends.


So the folks across the USA that I have been talking with have this desire to see people come to Jesus and to see them emerge into healthy, strong and reproductive churches. But there is a huge problem that almost everyone of them is faced with. Most seem to not be able to find 'people of peace' or others who may be interested in discovering spiritual truth about Jesus. When I press deeper through conversation and questions, I begin to find out that they are missing a huge step in the process. I'm wondering if my experience of seeing many with the same blind spot that you too might have this same desire (to make disciples) and the same blind spot that my friends have.

Now all of these people have been infected with the 10:2b virus, which is simply setting your phone to go off at 10:02 a.m. or p.m. or both, and then praying what Jesus told us to pray in Luke 10:2b. Jesus said "The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." We certainly all know of the problem. Not too many folks are coming to know Jesus in our country these days and it bothers us. These men and women are praying daily for the harvest to realized and for God to send out workers and raise up more workers for the fields that are so white. But they are not seeing this happen. What is their blind spot?

These friends of mine not only have this grand desire to see people come to know Jesus and churches emerge, but they are actually hanging out with people who are not yet connected to Jesus. Some are joining bowling leagues, others are drinking way more coffee than they should at their local coffee pub, some are involved in the local PTA and others are soccer parents attending every practice, game and photo shoot but the harvest is not yet being realized.


The blindspot can be found in Matthew 10:11-12. Here is what those verses says;

"And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it and stay at his house until you leave that city. As you enter the house, give it your greeting." Matt. 10:11-12

Did you catch the blind spot that my friends currently have? My friends are 'entering the villages' and cities around them. They are hanging out with people who need Jesus. They are even 'staying' with their new friends, in some cases for years. My friends are even giving their greeting and love to the folks they are hanging out with. But yet there is a blind spot and it is a single word. The word is 'inquire'.


My friends are not inquiring with spiritual questions, conversations or comments. It is like they are just waiting for heaven to open and angels to descend upon their not yet Jesus loving friends with fireworks etc. My friends are waiting for them to talk first or something. Jesus, however, puts the initiation upon you and I. We must be inquiring with spiritual emphasis. When we do this, we'll find out who is interested in pursuing a conversation and who is not.

My friend, Neil Cole, says that when you speak about Jesus (when you turn on the light), you'll quickly notice who are the moths and who are the cockroaches. The moths will flutter to the light. They are interested in knowing and seeing more. The cockroaches on the other hand, run from the light. They love darkness. I've been telling my friends that their desire to see people come to know Jesus is spot on. Now they need to open their mouths (turn on the light).


Some are still working on that part so next week I'll blog some notes about the truth that the Scriptures teach us regarding sharing our faith. I think you'll be amazed, encouraged and free to share more often. By the way, when you share more often (cast more seeds), you'll end up seeing people respond to the light (you'll find the moths). Remember, it takes an abundant amount of sowing seed for their to be an abundant harvest (2 Cor. 9:6).

I hope this was helpful to you. Please comment or ask questions is you are so inclined!

I Peeked at a Soap Opera

Have you ever been around a fanatic? Don't they just put a splinter in your mind about whatever they are fanatic about?

These guys are really over the top "Dawg Pound" Fanatics.

There are food fanatics and all they talk about is food and how to prepare a certain dish and how a certain spice is so fantastic and where the newest, latest and greatest restaurants are located and on and on and on. Or there is the novel reader (lover). When you are around these people you will certainly hear about the latest book they are reading or the author they are currently enjoying and why. I find that when I am around fanatics, I usually give them a bad time about their hobby or passion but I enjoy listening to their passion and watching the pleasure on their faces as they rant about their favorite whatever. I even find myself considering being interested in whatever they are fanatic about. For instance, my wife has been into this soap opera and I hear her talking about this one dude who wears an eye patch and all of the antics that he is involved in and guess what? I find myself peeking at the recorded shows to find out what this eye patch dude is all about. Fanatics can be contagious I tell you.

This is the one eye dude on the soap opera.

My friend Josh is a ravid Denver Bronco fan(atic). Now that football season is beginning Josh loves talking about Denver Bronco football (never mind that they will be horrible this year :-). Each year he and I join a fantasy football league and after talking with Josh about his favorite team, I find myself wanting to learn a little more about the Denver Broncos (do not tell Josh I said that). His passion is contagious. As I hang around with Josh during football season, the Bronco Bug kind of piques my interest (I'm still an Arizona Cardinal fan).

Ok, here is the Bronco logo (just for Josh) - Go Cardinals!

So I came across this verse in Matthew 13 this morning and it caused me to think about how fanatics can infect our thinking. Here is what the verse says:

"The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened." Matthew 13:33

Leaven is like a fanatic that piques your interest. If you are around the fanatic long enough, you end up investigating what is so enthralling about cooking, a restaurant, a soap opera or even the Denver Broncos. The leaven of their passion kind of gets into you. The Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus says, is just like that. As we are passionate about Jesus' Kingdom and as we are involved in people's lives, this leaven of heaven (like the rhyme?) will pique their interest and the questions will begin to come.

This is a picture of leaven permeating the whole batch of dough - like we should be at work, home, gym etc.

Now Debbie doesn't know that I have 'peeked' at the eye patch dude on her soap opera (well I guess she will if she reads this) but I have. Her enjoyment of this soap caused me to investigate. Josh doesn't know that I have this secret things for learning more about the Broncos but I do (I'm giving away all of my secrets). His passion for the Broncos has stimulated me.

And so it can be at your work or the gym or the with the parents in your child's school or wherever you go. When you are a fan(atic) of the Kingdom of Jesus, it will ooze out of your life and fill wherever you are with the scent of heaven. Your words and deeds will expose your passion and others will be affected by it - even if they don't tell you. Just being a fan(atic) of heaven and being involved in your work place has an eternally positive affect.

So put some Kingdom of Jesus leaven into the lives of those you hang out with. It will permeate them and they too will become passionate about your King Jesus.

May our friends be filled with the leaven of heaven.

I hope this was of some help to you.

The Conductor

I was driving form Savannah, Georgia to Tampa Bay Florida recently in a rented car. As I began down the highway with my wife, Debbie, I cranked up the radio. I pushed the first ‘pre-select’ button and expected to find whatever local station was assigned to it. To my surprise, the car I rented was equipped with XM Radio and suddenly a whole new world of options rushed through the radio screen. After searching many of the 300 or so stations, I settled on a classical station. The cooperation of so many instruments coming together to make amazing sounds was intoxicating.

As I thought about the symphony I was hearing, I began to think about the central piece of the orchestra, the conductor. The conductor’s ability to know each instrument, what it is supposed to do and when it is supposed to do it is central for a unifying sound that can be so powerful and persuasive.

As my mind drifted and danced with this wonderful music I kept thinking about the conductor, and a question kept rising in my mind. The question was simply, what is the center of the church to be? Who is the conductor of the local church? How would you answer those questions?

In my experience, the center or conductor of the local church is often viewed as the Pastor. The Pastor is most often the one who hears from God, crafts the vision or mission of the local church and then calls the folks committed to that local body to work towards the goal of carrying out ‘our’ vision or mission of that church. This sounds right to us. It is all that most of us have ever experienced. But I am beginning to question if this is the way it should be.

What if the spiritual directors (pastors, elders etc.) weren’t the conductor but the coaches? What if the pastors and elders were not to hear from God for the people and give them the vision to carry out but rather to help each person to discover God's vision for their own personal life and then live it out? What if the spiritual directors were viewed more as teachers of the instruments that people are gifted to play. What if the spiritual directors were to equip the musicians in their instrument and give them encouragement, permission, empowerment and ideas of how to more fully explore their instruments and all that they can do? What if the pastors and elders were to prepare and serve their friends to get ready to follow the lead of the conductor as a musical piece was learned and performed? I’ll bet the music would be beautiful.

There really can only be one conductor in any orchestra and it simply cannot be the spiritual director(s) or leader(s). After all that job is suited for the only one who knows all of the instruments, musicians, music and full abilities of each one and how they fit into the music of the universe. Only Jesus can be the conductor (head) of the orchestra (church).

The center of the church should be Jesus Christ, the conductor who puts all of the individual parts together to make beautiful music (just to make this blog cheesy ☺). With Jesus as the conductor and not a human being, unity will actually be realized and the tones and harmony that will be produced will be something we have yet to hear. Even though each person may have a different part or role to play with different sounds, the music will be wonderful. Some will be playing the harmony and others the melody; a masterpiece will be heard all over the world

So, I am thanking God for rental cars and XM radio because that experience taught me who the conductor of the symphony of souls in the church is to be – Jesus.

Do you have any thoughts about who the conductor of the local church ought to be?
What did Jesus mean in Matthew 16:18 when He said, "I will build my church"?

Next time I’ll (briefly) discuss the role of leaders in the church.

Your Work is a Spiritual Calling

What difference does balancing the budget and reconciling your company's bank account actually make for God? Why should you greet each customer at your shop with courtesy when you have had a rough week? How does placing people in jobs really make a difference in the world today? How can creating web sites for other businesses actually affect the Kingdom of God? Have you ever asked questions like those? I have. For years I viewed work as a way to make money to pay bills (and the church - I mean God) to survive financially, to buy a few nice things and then to get to the really important work of church. I'm talking about attending services, teaching, serving, singing, praying, learning, socializing and putting together programs to help the church grow. Worshipping and spiritual stuff, that is what we are put on earth for right? Well, maybe that isn't all of the answer.  Maybe not even the majority of the answer.

The church must rethink the role of people's employment. For many years (decades?) the church has said, in so many words, that your jobs are really to provide your needs and allow you to be faithful and serve the church.  Enjoy your work, but really, we all know that your spiritual work is more important.  As I read my Bible, it says something very different to me.

"Slaves (read employees today), in all things obey those who are your masters (read employers or bosses) on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve."  Colossians 3:22-24

Our work and the way we work is actually a spiritual act! It is a form of worship to Jesus as my ultimate boss. Paul teaches us in verses 24 that if we do our work with a full heart for the good of our boss and Jesus, that we will receive the reward of the inheritance. That sounds like your work is awfully important. Your work (job) is a spiritual act of worship towards God and a way to bless others that you work with.

Let's continue on to Colossians 4 and see what is said within the context of our daily work.

"Masters, (employers/bosses), grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you to have a Master in heaven. Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving...Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace as though seasoned with salk, so that you will know how you should respond to each person." Colossians 4:1-2, 5-6

Here the context doesn't change from our place of work and how we are act.  We are to not only do our work with eagerness and joy because we are doing it for Jesus and it pleases Him, but there is more.  We are to also know that our time spent at work is one of the greatest opportunities there is to make an impact for Jesus.  At work, you have the opportunity to daily give out little samples of heaven (you can figure out what looks like :-).  These little tastes will for some, bring them to a desire to have a triple scoop cone and to come back regularly for more.  Some where along the way, you'll be able to introduce them to Jesus  and watch them be transformed by His grace and power. 

Seek Jesus' will for you at work, know that your work is essential to the Kingdom of God.  You are His ambassador, representing heaven and giving out free samples of heaven to those God places in your path.  Your work is spiritual and it is important.  Your work is a calling of God upon your life and that makes whatever you do spiritual.

Drifting

There is nothing like sitting in an innertube drifting down a lazy river in the heat of summer. The birds are singing, there are giggles and splashing that wash over your ears from others enjoying the ride. The smell of fresh air, pine trees and dirt captivate the senses. As you lay your hand in the water and draw up a few drops to cool your head you fade away into a long day dream. Drifting can be fun until you hit some rocks, scratch your legs, bruise your bottom on a rock and get wedged between two boulders. It is important to know where you are headed.

In my Life Transformation Group, I have been reading in the book of Hebrews. There are a couple of passages in chapters 2 and 3 that have stood out to me.

"For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away." Hebrews 2:1

There it is, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard. The book of James teaches us to not only be hearers of the Word of God but to put what we have heard into action. We should apply it so as to have effect in our lives. Hebrews 2 seems to say that if we do not pay close attention to what we hear and live by it, then we are prone to
drift away from the truth.

Drifting is such a lazy term isn't it? The author of Hebrews seems to know that slowly, silently and seductively drifting in our faith will cause a separation (in relationship) with God and then many other uglies will follow.

"Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." Hebrews 3:12-13.

This passage teaches us that it is possible for believers to somehow 'drift' into an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. This is not an unbelieving and falling away that includes losing ones standing with God, that is not possible, however, these are very serious matters that affect our relationship to God and His body, the church. To guard against this drifting away problem verse 13 gives us a remedy.

We are to be encouraging one another every day. Too often, IF this happens it happens in spurts or on Sunday's or another 'church day'. Why do we need encouraging everyday?

I think the answer is that sin is very, very deceitful. It promises fulfillment but delivers sickness, emptiness and death. If we are not built up in Jesus, we may eventually find a hardened heart, not willing to listen or deal with spiritual matters. Remember the Word of God is always right (2 Tim. 3:16-17). We must believe what we learn here, even if you are not sure it is true - be assured that it is always true.

So be encouraging to those in your close community (house church, sunday school, small group etc.). Encourage them daily (as often as possible) through e-mail, text message, voice mail, phone call or over a cup of coffee. I know I need the encouragement daily. I do not want to drift away and wake up hardened heart, a buised bottom and scratched up legs.

Do you have any thoughts on this topic? I'd love to hear them.

You Have Problems if You are in a Church

I was sitting in a circle of new friends in another state discussing living together in community for the glory of Jesus. In others words, we were talking about church and in this discussion it was a church that met in a home. Everyone had agreed that church is to be lived in unity (Eph. 4:1-6) where we are on mission together (Acts 4:29-31) and where the message of Jesus would be attractive to a people who live in a world with lots of pain (Matt. 11:28).

I listened to stories about people wanting to make a difference in their communities and how that was fleshing itself out. There was a hunger and thirst for deeper connections with Jesus, each other and the world. These people were most excited about God, church and seeing the communities they lived in transformed for the Kingdom of God.

Then something happened. The conversation seemed to change and not for the better. The excitement drained from the room and tension began to rise. Uncertainty replaced confidence and apathy filled the void of where excitement once reigned. The ‘something’ that changed the conversation was the mention of people in their churches, their quirks and the baggage that they brought to the group.

Some brought the baggage of immaturity, others pain, some had affluence (which really bugged one couple) while others brought the baggage of…children (eeeek). Some thought others worked too much, others were too lazy, one couple thought people in their group were full of pride (unlike the judgment they were full of) and finally there were those who got upset because they were the only ones who would initiate anything.

So, you can see that the biggest problem in any type of church is people who are around other people. So, what to do about working through these differences? Here are some simple (but hard to enact) principles that will help unity in your church.

1. Be others focused (Phil. 2:1-5).
2. Take on the attitude of a servant (Matt. 20:20-28).
3. Always be ready to give of your self to bless others (1 Cor. 14:1-3 & 26).
4. Be quick to admit when you are wrong (James 5:16).
5. Let words that encourage others roll off of your lips (Eph. 4:29 & Jms 4:11).
6. Let love be your compass (1 Peter 4:8).
7. Remind yourself that your struggles are not against people, but against darkness (Eph. 6:10-20).
8. Always work to preserve unity (Eph. 4:1-6).

By the way, if your church is not currently facing difficulties, just wait about 5 minutes and it will. If you don’t have difficulties regularly, I would wager that there aren’t real people in your church ;-0

Here is a short clip that parodies what happens at times when people are together and wanting their way.

Stop Going To Church

Yep, you heard me correctly - I was not stuttering or misspelling. I want you to STOP going to church. Going to church is like going to a baseball game, concert or grocery store in our culture. I go to baseball games and concerts for entertainment. I go to grocery stores for food products. When people go to church, they are often going for either entertainment value (I like the music, preaching etc) or for spiritual products (I need to be fed or my kids need spiritual input). Going to church for either of those reasons is, well, wrong. Not wrong like adultery wrong, but wrong like helping somebody out of jam so you feel better (it's a motivation issue). Now I do understand what 'going to church' means to most people. As part of the religious practice of their faith, attending church services is expected for personal growth, a spiritual experience and to worship God. When church happens, I think people do actually get blessed, encouraged and learn some neat stuff. I do believe that most often the motivations of people going to church are good.

I'd like to suggest an alternative to going to church however. Before I offer my suggestion it is important to understand that the word church in the New Testament literally means "called out ones". In the Christian sense, it means those called out by God to be His people and part of His Kingdom through faith in and the grace of Jesus Christ. Therefore, church is not a location. Church is not a building. Church isn't even a meeting - in a home or bar or gym. Church can happen in a building or a home or bar or gym, but we don't go to church. Jesus didn't call us to attend meetings, we are to go to the world with Christ's message of redemption. We are to be the Church, working with God as He redeems the world. When we are being the church we bring glory to God. What might being the church look like? In groups small and large it may be taking cool water to thirsty people, helping others to finish projects or loving discussions that point to eternal life. We might even sing some songs, hear some teaching and give of our time, talents and treasures. Being the church is not a model (mega, house, traditional, emergent), it is a mindset. The church, the called out ones (saints) are to encourage one another to take the good news of Jesus to our friends and strangers throughout our lifetimes. Being the church is in the present tense.

Going to church assumes attendance at a spiritual activity. Being the church assumes action (ministry that you do for others) and also living out the presence of Jesus to the world. Going to church seems to indicate that you are going to receive something from the church (which does happen almost every time for me :-). Being the church indicates who you are and all sorts of action can go with that: giving your love, smile, heart, gifts, energy, etc. for God's glory and for the building up of the saints. In a word - Missional.

What are your thoughts about being the church?

Vacation Memories

Enjoy...

Can God be Refreshed?

Does the idea that God can be refreshed sound like a far fetched idea?  I mean, the God of the universe who can do anything He wants is the same one who never sleeps or slumber (Psalm 121:4), right?  I was quite surprised to come across this verse in Exodus 31:17.

"It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor and was refreshed."

Did creating the world take some of God's energy away?  Did creating cause Him fatigue?  How could one be fatigued when nothing is to difficult for Him (Jer. 32:17)?  I did take delight to learn that God rested on the seventh day and was 'refreshed', but I think that was more out of my sinful desire to be like God (thanks Adam :-) than anything else.  

So now that my vacation is winding down and I am refreshed, maybe I again have a glimmer of what God felt when He ceased from labor.  Maybe he felt relaxed, restored and energy replenished...or maybe God was simply trying to speak on our level.  Maybe He was trying to teach us how to care for ourselves by taking time to rest, so that we can be refreshed.  I think God loves us so much that He finds creative ways to communicate how we can best care for ourselves.

I have found out that one important way of caring for myself is to take time to rest and be refreshed.  Thanks God for teaching me important lessons on my level so I can understand. Thanks for showing me that you love me.

Do you have any thoughts about God taking a rest and being refreshed?

Sand Castles

There are 15 Waken's (well, 14 + one boyfriend) on a beach somewhere hanging out, getting a tan and doing things we wouldn't think of doing normally. What am I talking about? Glad you asked. Here are some of the things that we have done that you normally do not find us doing...
-swing from a vine suspended 15 feet above a pool over looked by a 25 foot water fall (some actually fell, I mean, let go of the vine and fell into the pool).
- standing 25 feet above a pool of water and jumping over the waterfall into the pool.
- making sandcastles with grandkids, children and adults.
- snorkeling with hundreds of fish.
- boogie boarding with fins on.
- surfing (more like ungraceful falling down the face of a wave).
- eating more fattening food than is legal.
- sleeping more in one day than you have in years.
- putting together jigsaw puzzles.
- playing scrabble.
- taking a dinner cruise and watching the sunset over the ocean.
- going to be early (like 8:30pm).
- begging and finishing a novel.
- just being refreshed...

I found a fantastic verses from Exodus that has to do with refreshment. I think you may just be amazed at what is said about refreshment - more on that later.

Taking a Sabbath is good.

Ants and the Bible

The other day I was eating my lunch at the high top table in our dinning nook when I looked down and noticed an ant on my tile floor.  One single ant.  My first reaction was to squish it with my foot, however, my left overs from "My Big Fat Greek Restaurant" was too good to stop eating.  I did, however, keep watching the ant.  It was quickly moving from one place to another.  I'm not sure if this ant had lost the chemical trail of his/her fellow ants or if it was simply looking for more food to bring its fellow ants to.  I finished my chicken kabob, sipped my water and got on the floor to watch this one ant.  My plan was sinister - to watch it for a while and then squish it.  I didn't want more of them on my tile floor.  As I watched this ant working alone I began to realize that even though it was alone at that moment, it was working for the colony.  It was either trying to find more food for the colony or it was trying to make its way back to the colony.  Either way, the colony was important.  What could one ant do alone without a purpose?  

"Finally, all of you should be in agreement, understanding each other, loving each other as family, being kind and humble."  1 Peter 3:8

Maybe ants have a better understanding of the Bible than I do...hmmm.

What would happen if you actually believed these things?

Are you a Christ Follower?  If so, then look at just some of what is true about you.

You are...

-God has chosen you to be His.  You must pretty darn special (1 Peter. 2:9).

-able to represent and point people to God.  You are a royal preisthood (1 Peter 2:9).

-a holy nation of people for God...God likes to be home in His nation (1 Peter 2:9)

-God is proud to have you be His own possession.  You are dear to Him (1 Peter 2:9).

-have received mercy, things you do not deserve except that you are children of the King (1 Peter 2:10).

-taking part in having the divine nature...that is a mystery to me (2 Peter 1:4).

-the bearer of God's good graces upon this earth - you represent His good will to everyone (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).

-made competent to impact people with God's good news all the time. (2 Corinthians 3:6).

-God's masterpiece for the world to see your good works (Ephesians 2:10).

-a sweet aroma of the knowledge of Christ.  Let your the perfume of your life intoxicate all you come in contact with (2 Corinthians 2:14).

-given spiritual gifts so that you will be effective in people's lives when you speak with them (1 Peter 4:10).

There is so much more but just soak in these truths.  When you read those words, what do they mean to you?  How do they make you feel?  Do you believe those truths?  What would happen in we lived out these truths?  Live them out and watch how things change in your life and those who you come in contact with.

I Found God In Colorado

Last week, Debbie and left Phoenix to travel to Dillon, Colorado where I was teaching at the Greenhouse Weekend Intensive. When we left Phoenix, it was 90º. When we arrived in Dillon, it was about 34º - and snowing. Winter has gone long in Colorado. As we woke up the next morning to a fresh layer of snow on the car, the ground and the mountains, I could not contain the joy of beauty that I saw. God's touch upon the Colorado Rockies is amazing.

As I pictured myself as a dot amongst some of the most majestic mountains anywhere. I found a new way to experience myself beyond the industrial, same old standards of life and worship. My ecclesiastical (church) life is often found to be routine, predictable and colorless. In the Rockies, my spirit had a chance to touch the cosmology of God in a fresh way. As Deb and I drove to 11, 990 feet at the Loveland pass I felt on top of the world and God met me there - in worship, in the cold, in the wind and in the beauty of His creation.

I often use the term Organic Church because I like the ideal of that word connected to church. To me it means no pretense (or a whole lot less) , no additives, chemicals or man-made ingenuity - just Jesus in the midst of His people doing what Jesus does best, transforming lives. In the Colorado Rockies, there is no pretense, additives or chemicals (that I could see :-) - just God and His creation. It was beautiful, pure and inspiring.

I pray that you'll find God in God's creation around your home - in the cacti, in the rocks in your front yard or in the smile on your family. You can find God anywhere. He is after all, omnipresent.

The Wind

It has been windy for a few days in Phoenix. Trees have blown down, pools are dirty with debris, even one of my chairs in the backyard fell over yesterday. The wind is rarely this strong for this long here in the valley of the sun. I was outside yesterday trying to read and the wind was snapping the pages of book back and forth that I just gave up and found a chair inside to read. The wind has not helped my allergies either - the air is full of pollen, dirt and other yuckies.

You might think from the above paragraph that I do not like wind too much. Wind can cause inconveniences, damage, changes and even be annoying at times. Wind can also be very helpful. Wind allows us to fly kites and unfurl flags. Wind moves seeds to other areas to migrate crops, it moves all sorts of flying insects to other parts of the country and it moves weather systems from one location to another. Wind is dynamic, unseen, powerful and helpful.

Spiritual wind has some similar characteristics. Wind can be a name for the Spirit of God in the Bible and He is known to be powerful and helpful. I wonder what Phoenix would look like if the Wind of God would blow strongly over our spiritual landscape as it is doing physically. I would guess that my life would be somewhat different, messed up, changed and more powerful, submissive and humble.

I pray for the Wind of God to blow strongly for His glory and purposes - so that Jesus will be lifted up and for all people to be drawn to Him. That sounds like something to beg God for to pray and fast...He might even blow over your chair.