Emancipation of the Freed

An Apology from a Christian

2012-01-25T10:03:00.001-05:00

by Tanya Dwyer

I am sorry for the ways that Christians have behaved like idiots in your life.

I am sorry for the times they said one thing and did another.

I am sorry for the way you opened up your heart to them, believing they were representatives of a good God, and then they didn’t even really “see” you, and they trampled over you with their agenda to earn badges for God.

I regret, I deeply regret, the hypocrisy that was portrayed and how it has left you with a sour flavor wondering if that is who God really is.

The ways that religion and its manmade rules were purported as a higher way was wrong. The things you were told you had to quit or change were told to you by people who did not understand the model of transforming love. They took a role God did not intend for them to take.

Their assignment was to love you. In not doing that well, you got hurt. I wish that had not happened. I wish you had not been hurt.

I am sorry that you were seen as a project that someone else could use to gain approval with God.

I am sorry for the dishonor-for the ways your culture and heritage were not respected.

I apologize for the disregard of your personal story and history, and the way you were devalued as an individual.

I am sorry for the judgments; for the times when you were made to feel like a lesser than, or left feeling ignorant because the Christians all seemed to have a certain language they assumed you should know.

I am sorry for the times you felt excluded. That is the very opposite of love.

I am sorry for the times that ‘punishment’ included not letting you belong if you didn’t ‘behave’ according to their rules. How painful that is!

I just wanted to let you know today, I don’t know your story, but I would like to. When we sit down and talk, I don’t have an agenda.

I have done worse things than most people, so it’s easy for me to not judge you.

I don’t believe there is a set of rules that transforms me. I think it’s Love.

I give you permission to call me out if I get religious.

I think if we learn each other’s language we may be friends. I am hopeful that we can learn things from each other. I am sure we will find things to laugh about. I would like to try.

I am a Christian. To me, that means I follow the way of Love. I hope you won’t hold it against me.

How to Shrink Your Church

2011-12-02T17:07:00.001-05:00

by Tim Suttle

Pastors and churches spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year attending conferences, buying books, hiring consultants, advertisers and marketers, all to try and accomplish one thing: to increase attendance -- to be a bigger church.

I'm absolutely convinced this is the wrong tack.

Success is a slippery subject when it comes to the Church. That our ultimate picture of success is a crucified Messiah means any conversation about success will be incompatible with a "bigger is better" mentality. Yet, bigger and better is exactly what most churches seem to be pursuing these days: a pursuit which typically comes in the form of sentimentality and pragmatism.

Sentimentality and pragmatism are the one-two punch which has the American Church on the ropes, while a generation of church leaders acquiesces to the demands of our consumer culture. The demands are simple: tell me something that will make me feel better (sentimentality for the churchgoer), and tell me something that will work (pragmatism for the church leader). Yet it is not clear how either one of those are part of what it means to be the church.

Sentimentality is mother's milk to the church which has ceased to believe our faith should really make a difference in the way we live our lives. Instead of proclaiming resurrection, the sentimental church will devote their entire Sunday worship service to Mother's/Father's Day -- or worse yet, Valentine's Day. Not that we don't appreciate our parents and sweethearts, but the yielding of precious worship time to the celebration of greeting card companies signals a much deeper problem: we have lost track of the story of God. Yet, for a church to grow bigger, losing track of the story is precisely what is required.

Instead of pursuing faithfulness the sentimental church must provide a place where people can come to hear a comforting message from an effusive pastor spouting fervent one-liners which are intended only to make us feel good about the decisions we've already made with our lives. If our beliefs aren't actually, really true then at least we can have a Hallmark moment, right? Above all the sentimental church must never teach us that in the kingdom of God, up is down, in is out, and nothing short of dying to ourselves and each other can help us truly live.

Perhaps more than sentimentality, pragmatism is ravaging the church. Pragmatism has led to a fairly new niche industry I call the Church Leadership Culture. Taking their cues from business, church leadership manuals are more than willing to instruct the interested pastor in how to gain market share. I once heard church consultant and leadership guru Don Cousins say that you can grow a church without God if you have good preaching, great music, killer children's ministry, and an engaging youth minister. Cousins should know. He helped build Willow Creek Community Church and the church leadership culture. In the pragmatic church, there is only one question that matters, "What will work to grow my church?"

The fundamental problem with the one-two punch of sentimentality and pragmatism is, of course, the church's job is not to affirm people's lives, but to allow the gospel to continually call our lives into question. The church's job is not to grow -- not even to survive. The church's job is to die -- continually -- on behalf of the world, believing that with every death there is a resurrection. God's part is to grow whatever God wishes to grow. Growing a church isn't hard ... being faithful as the church, that's a different story.

I'm the pastor of a church called Redemption Church in Olathe, KS. Our church was planted in 2003 and founded upon church leadership principles that worked like a charm. We grew from 2 families to around 200 families in the first three years. We planted another church in a nearby town and continued to grow. But, when we decided to reject sentimentality and pragmatism and chase faithfulness instead we really began to grow ... smaller that is. I don't know for sure because we no longer count, but my best guess is that we have decreased by more than half. If pressed about my church's growth strategy, I usually say it is to get smaller and die; to continually decrease the amount of time, resources and energy we spend trying to have the ultimate church experience, and to spend more time actually being faithful. Nowadays, faithfulness -- not success -- is our only metric. Success is about "doing." Faithfulness is about "being," and it's really hard to measure.

Convincing the church she does not exist for the benefit of her members, but for the life of the world is a bad church growth strategy. It's also exactly what the church must do. It's a tough sell because crucifixion seems like a losing strategy unless you believe in the resurrection. Faithfulness seems like a losing strategy unless you believe that the power of the gospel trumps our ability to come up with all the right answers to all the right questions.

So, God save us from the successful church. Give us churches who shun sentimentality and pragmatism and aren't afraid to face the inevitable shrinkage which comes as a result of following Jesus. God save us from church leadership strategies. After all, it takes zero faith to follow a strategy, but incredible faith to pursue the kingdom of God and leave the rest in God's hands. If I've learned anything as a pastor, it is this: faithfulness flies in the face of sentimentality and pragmatism, and if you pursue it you have to expect small numbers.

Punishment or Cure?

2011-11-09T11:31:00.000-05:00

The Crucifixion Misunderstood
by Wayne Jacobsen

Something about the story made me cringe every time I heard it, and since I grew up a Baptist, I heard it a lot: To satisfy His need for justice and His demand for holiness, God sentenced His own Son to death in the brutal agony of a crucifixion as punishment for the failures and excesses of humanity.

Don’t get me wrong. I want as much mercy as I can get. If someone else wants to take a punishment I deserve and I get off scot free, I’m fine with that. But what does this narrative force us to conclude about the nature of God?

As we approach Easter, the crucifixion story most often told paints God as an angry, blood-thirsty deity whose appetite for vengeance can only be satisfied by the death of an innocent—the most compassionate and gracious human that ever lived. Am I the only one who struggles with that? The case could be made that it makes God not much different from Molech, Baal or any of the other false deities that required human sacrifice to sate their uncontrollable rage.

We wouldn’t think this story an act of love from anyone else. If you offend me, and the only way I can forgive you is to satisfy my need for justice by directing the full force of my anger for you onto my own son by beating him to death, you probably wouldn’t think me worth knowing. You certainly wouldn’t think of me as loving. And this solution ostensibly comes from the God who asks us as mere humans to forgive others without seeking vengeance. Is He demanding that we be more gracious than He is?

Many of the Old Testament writers did look forward to the cross as a sacrifice that would satisfy God, and they used the language of punishment to explain it. But the New Testament writers looking back through the redemption of the cross saw it very differently. They didn’t see it as the act of an angry God seeking restitution, but the self-giving of a loving God to rescue broken humanity.

Their picture of the cross does not present God as a brutalizing tyrant expending His anger on an innocent victim, but as a loving Father who took the devastation of our failures and held it in the consuming power of His love until sin was destroyed and a portal opened for us to re-engage a trusting relationship with the God of the universe. The New Testament writers saw the cross not as a sacrifice God needed in order to love us, but one we needed to be reconciled to Him.

One of my best friends died of melanoma almost two years ago. Doctors tried to destroy the cancer with the most aggressive chemotherapy they could pour into his body. In the end, it wasn’t enough. The dose needed to kill his melanoma would have killed him first. That was God’s dilemma in wanting to rescue us. The passion He had to cure our sin would overwhelm us before the work was done. Only God Himself could endure the regimen of healing our brokenness demanded.

So He took our place. He embraced our disease by becoming sin itself, and then drank the antidote that would consume sin in His own body. This is substitutionary atonement. He took our place because He was the only one that could endure the cure for our sin. God’s purpose in the cross was not to defend His holiness by punishing Jesus instead of us, but to destroy sin in the only vessel that could hold it until—in God’s passion—sin was destroyed.

Perhaps we need to rethink the crucifixion in line with those early believers. God was not there brutalizing His Son as retribution for our failures; He was loving us through the Son in a way that would set us free to know Him and transform us to be like Him.

Now that’s a God worth knowing.

Jacobsen links: Life Stream, The God Journey, Transition & The Jesus Lens

Living Love

2011-10-13T11:51:00.000-04:00

Isaiah 58:6-12

6 “No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
And remove the chains that bind people.

7 Share your food with the hungry,
and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
And do not hide from relatives who need your help.

8 “Then your salvation will come like the dawn,
and your wounds will quickly heal.
Your godliness will lead you forward,
and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.

9 Then when you call, the Lord will answer.
‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.
“Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.
Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!

10 Feed the hungry,
and help those in trouble.
Then your light will shine out from the darkness,
and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.

11 The Lord will guide you continually,
giving you water when you are dry
and restoring your strength.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like an ever-flowing spring.

12 Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.
Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls
and a restorer of homes.

Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

2011-10-06T17:38:00.001-04:00

I Love Them Whores

2011-09-13T09:27:00.004-04:00

Great post from Erik Guzman, The Merry Monk over at Burnside Writers Collective. This will provoke you in the best possible way.

ESSAYS, FEATURED — BY THE MERRY MONK ON SEPTEMBER 7, 2011 AT 5:27 AM

“I love them whores, they never judge you. What can you say when you’re a whore?”
- Jane’s Addiction

I’ve been thinking about whores, church and Jesus lately (not necessarily in that order).

There’s a story in the Bible about a prostitute who just had to get some time with Jesus (Luke 7:36-50). She wanted to get close to him so bad that she went to a dinner put on by a religious bigwig.

Think about that scene. Hooker hygiene must have been atrocious back in the year zero. So you have this stinky whore who crashes the party of a priest who is probably trying to impress all his churchy friends by having the people’s prophet over for a meal at his house. Imagine the stares and the whispered comments. Imagine the condescending tone of the servant sent to show her the door. Imagine this woman’s determination to put up with all these religious pricks so she can weep and pour expensive oil on some preaching carpenter’s feet and wipe them with her hair. Imagine the smell of hooker stank mixed with the fragrant mixture from her alabaster flask.

What was it about Jesus that attracted her? Maybe she saw him treat the drunks, outcasts and the diseased with dignity and she wanted some for herself. Maybe it was because he told her she was clean in spite of all evidence to the contrary and it gave her hope. Who knows for sure. But one thing is clear, this woman wanted to be with Jesus bad and the priest was a hindrance, not a help.

I feel like that a lot of the time… a whore in church.

Why is it that the people who claim to follow Jesus have created churches that hookers don’t feel comfortable in? They were certainly comfortable around him. I tell you what, you show me a church that can’t keep the whores away and I bet you Jesus is in there. If you find a place like that, let me know. I’d rather be in a room full of forgiven sinners who love God than at an uptight priest’s house any day.

Don’t get me wrong, not all churches are repulsive to us whores. Christians get a clue from time to time. I recently came across a quote from Eugene Peterson (he and God wrote The Message). Peterson was talking to NPR’s Guy Raz about how his experience working in his father’s butcher shop impacted his idea of church. (No, it didn’t have anything to do with slaughtering sheep.) Peterson’s dad treated everyone with respect, including the prostitutes:

“The brothel was just about two streets down from our shop. And there was always talk on the street about the whores. But when they came into our store, people knew their first name, they treated them with dignity.
They were in a safe place. Later, that translated for me into a congregation. When you come into a sanctuary, it’s a safe place.”

A safe place. I used to have a safe place. I experienced it in a small church for eight simple, glorious years. That church is gone now and I’m mourning the loss. While I don’t feel comfortable around a lot of other Christians, I felt at home there. You know what made the difference? We were all whores and we knew it, but more than that, we were Jesus’ whores.

St. Augustine is reported to have said, “The Church is a whore, but she is my mother.” Yeah, Jesus loves whores so much he married one. You know, bad things happen when the Church forgets she’s Jesus’ whore bride.

First, this bad religion has a deceptive way of lulling us into a false sense of security. We believe all the right stuff and do our best to avoid our religious community’s “big sins” so we figure we’re not as bad as all those sinners on the streets. It’s dangerous to live up to our own selective standards while forgetting God’s law of love. I forget who said it, but it’s true, “Self-righteousness is like bad breath. Everyone knows you have it except you.” Whores don’t have this problem. They know they’re nasty.

“Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many…” (Luke 7:47). If the Church would remember that she’s a whore, she’d get over herself and her “righteousness” and start obsessing on Jesus’ righteousness. But we can’t stop there.

Seeing that we’re bad and he’s good only deals with the first half of the problem. We also need to see that Jesus’ righteousness is 100% free and ours for the taking. The whore and her Husband are now one flesh. “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven…” (more of Luke 7:47). Believing that we’re made clean by union with Jesus, despite all evidence to the contrary, strikes at the second half of the problem.

When the Church forgets she’s Jesus’ whore bride, she’s not only lulled into a false sense of security, she also loses her ability to love. “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little” (even more of Luke 7:47). When we forget that we are forgiven much, our love grows cold. That’s why Steve Brown says, “The worst thing you have going for you is your goodness… when you know it. And the best thing you have going for you is your sin… when you know it.” Knowing our sin, acknowledging it as such and turning to God in faith for his free righteousness creates soft hearts of gratitude where once there was only stone. We love him (and others) because he first loves us. Get that backwards and you get loveless religion.

Lack of love leads to a multitude of sins, including creating whitewashed tombs and calling them churches. They’re pretty on the outside, but they’re full of death. No wonder the prostitutes don’t darken their doors. They can smell the stench miles away, and the last thing they need is more stank.

Sorry for the rant. I’m just really sad about losing my safe place.

Multiple Choice Test

2011-08-25T09:19:00.000-04:00

Multiple Choice: Please pick one.
Jesus said "all men will know you are my disciples if __________"
(a) You have a world class marketing strategy
(b) Your ministry is branded perfectly
(c) You've achieved doctrinal purity
(d) You are theologically sound
(e) You speak the truth
(f) You're right
(g) You are an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher
(h) You operate in spiritual gifts
(i) You love one another

Facebook Musings on Trust

2011-08-16T07:11:00.001-04:00

Tom Zawacki
Pondering trust, trusting God.

10 hours ago · · (from August 15, 2011)

Laurel E Favilla and Lauren Stinton like this.
- Tom Zawacki If I believe that #1 God is good and #2 that God loves me (and I do) then I can always trust Him.
  10 hours ago · · 3 people
- Tom Zawacki How is trust developed? By navigating through circumstances that require, even demand trust.
  10 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths."
  10 hours ago · · 1 person
- Tom Zawacki Trust may require that I reject or resist my best inclinations.
  9 hours ago · · 2 people
- Tom Zawacki Isaiah 55:8-9 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts."
  9 hours ago · · 2 people
- Tom Zawacki Trust may require humility...
  9 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki Trust may require that I remain in a state of "I don't know" or "I don't understand" at least for awhile.
  9 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki I can see how my pride would resist remaining is a state of trust
  9 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki So, trust and pride are opposing forces... Hmmm...
  9 hours ago · · 1 person
- Tom Zawacki And maybe trust is the antidote for pride... Hmmm...
  9 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki Faith and trust are cousins... Faith asks what before how. Trust is required to walk out the how... Hmmm...
  9 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki Pragmatism, logic and reason might actually be detrimental on this journey of trust, hmmm...
  9 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki ‎1 Corinthians 13:7 says that love always trusts, hmmm...
  9 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki It goes on to say that love always hopes... Is love the connection between trust and hope?
  8 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki How are trust and hope similar? How do they differ?
  8 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki ‎1 Corinthians 13:13 "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love"
  8 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki Obviously faith, hope and love are intertwined... Trust can't be far away...
  8 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki Timely Bill Johnson post amid my musings... "He will entrust you with revelation to the degree you will trust Him with mystery."
  8 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki Trust is willing to risk, hope expects...
  8 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki Faith is certainty of expectation...
  8 hours ago ·
- Jill Blovits I like this pondering thread..
  8 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki Certainty of expectation emboldens the will to risk...
  8 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki Faith is action based upon belief sustained by confidence.
  8 hours ago ·
- Jewelia Marie I "Trust" it will all work out..
  8 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki Confidence = hope. Certainty = faith. Action = trust/risk
  8 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki Trust based upon faith sustained by hope...
  8 hours ago ·
- Jewelia Marie So what is your conclusion after all of your thoughts?
  8 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki Still pondering but... I think that God uses the challenging circumstances of life I get myself into to develop my trust in him. My prideful self sufficentcy hates the process but the benefits of a trusting relationship with my heavenly Father make is all worthwhile.
  8 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki I think...
  8 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki Without trust there is no relationship
  7 hours ago ·
- Tom Zawacki trust = relationship = trust
  7 hours ago · · 1 person

In This House...

2011-07-02T17:32:00.000-04:00

Kathryn Schulz: On being wrong | Video on TED.com

2011-05-20T23:07:00.001-04:00

Why it's more important to love than it is to be right... because you could be wrong.

Kathryn Schulz: On being wrong | Video on TED.com

Stained Glass Masquerade

2011-02-28T13:39:00.000-05:00

"Stained Glass Masquerade"

Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin' so small

Cause when I take a look around
Everybody seems so strong
I know they'll soon discover
That I don't belong

So I tuck it all away, like everything's okay
If I make them all believe it, maybe I'll believe it too
So with a painted grin, I play the part again
So everyone will see me the way that I see them

Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation's open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone who's been there
Are there any hands to raise
Am I the only one who's traded
In the altar for a stage

The performance is convincing
And we know every line by heart
Only when no one is watching
Can we really fall apart

But would it set me free
If I dared to let you see
The truth behind the person
That you imagine me to be

Would your arms be open
Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus
Be enough to make you stay

Desiring the Kingdom

2011-02-09T12:21:00.001-05:00

"to be human is to be a lover." ~ James K. A. Smith

James K.A. Smith - Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation from Calvin College on Vimeo.

Buy it here

Seven Characteristics of Spiritual Abuse

2011-02-08T14:14:00.000-05:00

From “The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse” by David Johnson and Jeff VanVonderen

1. Shame-based Relationships: People learn to be or act powerless. Shame is not the same as guilt, a constructive signal which is an emotional indication of wrong actions or attitudes. Shame is a destructive signal about your personal worth, a belief or mindset that you are a bad and worthless person. (pp. 54-55)

2. Performance Focus: With this focus, how people act is more important than who they are or what is happening to them on the inside. (p. 56)

3. Idolatry: The "god" served by the shame-based relationship is an impossible-to-please judge, who obsesses on people's behavior from a distance, and is more concerned about appearance, how things look, what people think and where the power is. (p. 57)

4. Preoccupation with Fault and Blame: Forgiveness and personal apology are not enough when things go wrong, people have to pay for their mistakes and feel so defective and humiliated that they won't act that way anymore. (p. 58)

5. Obscured Reality: In shame-based systems, members have to deny any thought, opinion or feeling that is different than those of people in authority. Interaction with people and places outside the system threatens the order of things; the system (or organization) defines reality. Problems are denied or minimized, and therefore they remain (unless things change, they remain the same). (p. 58)

6. Centralized Teaching: What is true is decided on the feelings or experiences of the religious leadership, giving more weight to them than to what the Bible says. People can't know or understand spiritual truth until the leaders "receive them by spiritual revelation from the Lord" or "until the timing is right" or "until the people are ready", at which time the spiritual leaders "impart" these truths to the people. (p. 70)

7. Image Management: Image managers are more concerned with how they look to other people, and in a shame-based system, religious leaders are loathe admitting error and slow to admit the truth. What counts less is the substance of the spiritual material, and more on how it looks and makes people feel. (pp. 131-136)

Bad News About Your Pastor

2011-02-07T02:21:00.001-05:00

Bad News About Your Pastor

by Rich Murphy

The bad news is this: pastors today are faced with more stress, more problems and more challenges than ever before. Statistics today are frightening. More and more pastors are leaving the ministry. Why? Because they are human, and can't be everything that everyone expects them to be.

We, the church, are expecting pastors to be many things that they aren't called to be. Instead of allowing God to define their ministry, we've created our own definition. This definition takes him from being our spiritual leader and protector, and made the pastor into our baby sitter and servant.

Take a look at these alarming statistics:

Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout or contention in their churches.

Four thousand new churches begin each year, but over seven thousand churches close.

Fifty percent of pastors' marriages will end in divorce.

Eighty percent of pastors and eighty-four percent of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors.

Fifty percent of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.

Eighty-five percent of pastors said their greatest problem is they are sick and tired of dealing with problem people, such as disgruntled elders, deacons, worship leaders, worship teams, board members, and associate pastors. Ninety percent said the hardest thing about ministry is dealing with uncooperative people.

Seventy percent of pastors feel grossly underpaid.

Eighty percent of pastors' spouses feel their spouse is overworked.

Eighty percent of pastor' wives feel left out and unappreciated by the church members.

Eighty percent of pastors' spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession.

Eighty percent of pastors' wives feel pressured to do things and be something in the church that they are really not.

The majority of pastor's wives surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.

The bad news is that your pastor, like pastors everywhere is at risk of becoming just another statistic. He is expected to do so much, be so much, and give so much that many times there is nothing left for him. We, the church, can't afford to keep losing pastors to burnout and contention.

What Can You Do?

Pray For Your Pastor

The greatest gift you can give your pastor is to take the time to pray for him. We need to realize that pastors and other ministers are prime targets for the devil. If he can cause a believer to fall, it's a victory for his kingdom. But, if he can cause a minister to fall, he can hurt the lives of many other believers. We have a responsibility before God to hold up our leaders in prayer, and seek God's protection over their lives.

Be Reasonable in Your Expectations

Too many people expect the pastor to be everything. I have heard stories about people expecting their pastor to pick up their children from school, talk to them when they can't sleep, mow their lawn, and fix their car. God has given specific instructions about what a pastor is supposed to be. Let him be it, and protect the calling and anointing God has placed upon his life.

Compensate Him Appropriately

There's an old line about the church board praying something like this, "Lord, you keep our pastor humble, and we'll keep him poor." That attitude is way too common. Pastors and their families have the same financial needs as everyone else in the congregation. In fact, they often have more expenses, because of the needs of visiting people and ministering to them.

When God established the tithe, he said that it was to go to the Levites (the ministers); not to pay for the mortgage on the church, the electric bill, and the youth field trip. At that time, the Levites consisted of about seven percent of the population of Israel. Therefore, if everyone tithed, the Levites received a little more than the average income of the congregation.

This is a good guideline for us to use today. A pastor should receive slightly more than the average income of his congregation. That will allow his family to live and minister without having to worry about money.

Respect His Privacy and Time

So often, being a pastor is a 24-hour a day job. Granted, there are always emergencies that come up at the most inopportune times. But, a hangnail, or the flu isn't an emergency. Your pastor needs time to study, time to pray, time to rest, and time to be with his family.

Pastor's children have become a joke in our society today. Although the church expects them to be perfect, the world expects them to be hellions. Why? Because, they usually are. Why? Because dad is so busy taking care of everyone else, he doesn't have time for his own family. Don't expect him to give up his wife and children, to take care of yours. That's your job.

Let Your Pastor, and His Wife Know You Appreciate Them

Everyone needs some encouragement now and then. One of the motivational gifts mentioned in Romans 12: 6-8 is exhortation. This gift is badly lacking in the Body of Christ today. It is especially lacking towards those in ministry. We expect them to encourage us, forgetting that they need it as well. A kind, or encouraging word, a card, or even a small gift will work wonders to build up your pastor and help him to continue in the calling God has given him.

Don't let your pastor become a statistic. Be a blessing to him, so he can continue to be a blessing to you.

These statistics came from across denomination lines, and have been gleaned from various sources such as Pastor to Pastor, Focus on the Family, Ministries Today, Charisma Magazine, TNT Ministries, Campus Crusade for Christ and the Global Pastors Network.

Life-Line For Pastors is a publication of Maranatha Life

P.O. Box 1206, Donna, TX 78537

http://www.MaranathaLife.com

Any Christian church or ministry may make copies of Life-Line for free distribution.

Our address and copyright information must be included on these copies.

What I Want To Do

2010-10-29T16:28:00.000-04:00

This is what I want to do in 5 simple steps

1. I want to be a friend of God.
2. I want to comprehensively experience God's extravagant love for me.
3. I want to love people as extravagantly as I have been loved.
4. I want to introduce my extravagantly loving Friend to everyone I know.
5. I want to help others experience this ongoing love affair for themselves.

What do you want to do?

Why vs. What

2010-10-26T10:44:00.000-04:00

The Man I Want To Be

2010-10-25T14:03:00.000-04:00

Loving People Different Than You

2010-10-23T18:05:00.000-04:00

Dave Gibbons: Engaging in 3rd Culture Mission [VERGE 2010 Main Session] from Verge Network on Vimeo.

Who in this picture is Naked?

2010-10-22T12:18:00.001-04:00

by Ted Dekker

Where I grew up, everyone but my kind were naked. It didn't matter if you were religious, good, or bad, you were naked. Those exposed parts of the body that we so diligently cover in the west were not unlike ears or toes in that culture. Here you see me as a teenager wearing a blue shirt surrounded by naked people at a service. The woman with the bad perm is my mother (I love her dearly:) You must know that finding such a picture for western eyes wasn't easy--most images of my youth show so much more flesh.

Some would be so bigoted as to find offense in a picture like this, though I can't imagine that here. Still, the culture I grew up in was very different than the American culture, which in large part gives me that unique perspective some call twisted. Go figure.

Can you just imagine what America would look like if the whole country were naked for one day like my friends growing up were? I think terror would ensue. It certainly would not be inspiring. Clothing sales would surely double the next day.

I say all of this tongue in cheek, naturally, but it illustrates another truth. We humans are so good at dressing ourselves up. Let me tell you, underneath all of the layers, we all look very much the same. In terms of following rules and living clean well dressed lives, we are simply no better than any neighbor.

The difference between people is truly a matter of the heart, not the skin.

Do you judge or do you love? Will you touch the diseased for flee to save your skin?

One day it will be your heart, not your skin, that will be found naked. Is it a loving heart?

Considering this, who in this picture is truly naked?

a) The ones without clothes

b) The ones with clothes

c) None

Be heard

(for more on Ted Dekker check out www.teddekker.com)

How We Short-Circuit the Power of God

2010-10-20T14:20:00.002-04:00

J. Lee Grady Newsletters - Fire In My Bones

We can't have New Testament power if we don't walk in New Testament love

The New Testament church was characterized by exciting miracles and supernatural anointing, but it was not immune to division. The earliest churches suffered splits—not only because of doctrine but also because of bitter personal disputes.

Even the apostle Paul, who modeled Christian affection and implored his followers to preserve the bond of love, had an unfortunate disagreement with his close colleague, Barnabas, early in their ministry partnership.

The exact nature of their argument is a mystery. We only know that Paul did not want to take John Mark, Barnabas' cousin, on his second missionary journey because the young disciple had deserted the team in Pamphylia. Acts 15:39 says: "And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed to Cyprus. (NASB)"

"Paul always looked for the hidden blessing in every trial. Have you been complaining about your situation? Grumbling short-circuits faith, but joy revives it."

We can only speculate about what happened. We know that Mark was Peter's spiritual son (1 Pet. 5:13), and it is possible that Mark took sides with Peter in his awkward controversy with Paul over the practice of Jewish traditions. Whatever the case, Paul went one way from Antioch and Barnabas went another. For at least a season, an effective ministry team was fragmented.

When we piece the entire story together, however, we discover that Paul and Mark eventually reconciled. In the letter to Philemon, Mark is mentioned as part of Paul's team (v. 24). In Colossians 4:10, Paul says of Mark: "If he comes to you, welcome him." And in Paul's last epistle, he tells Timothy: "Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service" (2 Tim. 4:11).

To say that Mark was "useful" was an understatement. After all, it was Mark who, years after he disappointed Paul with his bad behavior, wrote the gospel that bears his name. Most scholars believe Mark based his account on Peter's firsthand experiences with Jesus.

The story of Paul and Mark is a dramatic picture of forgiveness, redemption and second chances. An ugly conflict was resolved. A bitter dispute was reconciled. And a young man's ministry was restored after he made an embarrassing mistake.

This is the way New Testament Christianity is supposed to work. Jesus constantly taught on the primacy of forgiveness, and the early apostles urged their disciples to keep short accounts.

Paul, especially, asked his followers to soak their lives in love. He told the Colossians: "Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone...Beyond all these put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity" (Col. 3:12-14).

That is the New Testament's gold standard, but what we practice today falls short. Too often, pastors who parted ways years ago still don't speak to each other. The necessity of forgiveness is rarely preached. Many Christians nurse grudges for years; others collect offenses like packrats. Many people are wounded in one church and then move to another—carrying their resentment and bitterness with them.

What we don't realize is that unresolved conflict can short-circuit the power of God in our lives, and it makes the church weak and irrelevant. Many of us have prayed that the Holy Spirit would unleash a fresh wave of revival in our midst. But perhaps we need to ask these simple questions first:

Am I carrying any personal resentment in my heart toward anyone?
Am I still carrying around baggage from previous conflicts?
Have I judged a person because of their mistakes, and determined in my heart that they can never change? If they are willing to repent, am I willing to release them?
Has my love for people—especially other Christians—become cold, artificial and hypocritical, rather than warm and affectionate?

If we want New Testament power, we must also pursue New Testament love. We cannot expect to reconcile sinners to God if we have not practiced reconciliation with each other.

J. Lee Grady is contributing editor of Charisma. You can find him on Twitter at leegrady. His latest book is The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale. (Chosen Books).

How do we know what we are seeing is from God?

2010-10-14T12:57:00.000-04:00

by Zach Mapes

This is not an uncommon question. With various nuances I don’t know of anyone that is trying to grow spiritually that hasn’t asked this at least once. It is a safe question to ask as well. On one hand we have to always ask this question to keep ourselves clean and safe. The first thing that we should ask ourselves is does what I am seeing, hearing, sensing, feeling, or receiving line up with the Bible. The first questions that we should ask the Bible is will God give me revelation if I ask for it?

This is answered in Luke 11:11-13 “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” This tells us quite clearly that God our father does want to bless us and give us what we ask for. The next question that arises is “is it ok to practice the gift”?

In the Old Testament we see examples of schools for or of the prophets. This implies that they did train to be prophets. This also indicates that people called to prophesy should be trained and that it is not an instantaneous event from the moment of calling to the moment of full function in the gift.

But what about the rest of us? Those who aren’t certain that they have been called to be prophets, or those that deeply desire to function in the gift, do they have a place pursuing gifting? Is it safe? In 1 Corinthians 14:39 it says “Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues.”

We can see that it is good to ask for revelation, we can to train in the gift ideally with others, and that we are supposed to want to grow in this area. While it is difficult to answer on a case by case point “is this God or is this me?” we can with relative certainty say that we are on the right path if we are seeking him in accordance with Biblical principles.

There is one danger here that is what I call the Infallibility Complex. This is where a person becomes so certain that they hear from God so clearly that everything they say is unchallengeable. The infallibility complex can only happen outside of real relationships. Because good friends simply won’t let you get away with it. They are the ones that know us and will keep us on the straight and narrow.

What steps can be taken to grow safely?

Pursue relationship first. We all experience God in our own way. Focus on growing in knowledge and understanding of how God relates to you. Invest your time with him.
Talk to God, then listen and respond. He wants to bless us and he wants us to pursue relationship with him.
Never stop training. There is an element of humility that is needed to be able to say that you are always training. But, unless you know everything, keep training.
Remain in relationship with others. Know your community, but stay close to the handful of people in your life that keep you grounded.

The final thing to remember is that revelation is not our end goal, or the final destination. Revelation is a means of two way communication with God as Peter Lord writes in his bookHearing God revelation is the means that we shift prayer from a monologue shopping list for God, into personal, two way communications with God. Revelation is the listening half of prayer life. One of the things that I have learned with some certainty in my life is you can rarely get into trouble and difficulty from listening.

From Stir The Water Articles

How to Become a Friend of God

2010-10-14T00:33:00.000-04:00

by Patty Mapes Executive Director of Nexus Connection

The Bible sets the goal for us to be a friend of God. You may have heard people talk about what a great relationship they have with God. No longer being young I have learned to not just listen to what people say but to look for the evidence, to look for the fruit in their lives. Does the person speaking reflect who God is? Does the person have good friends? Have they had some of the same friends for years? What does this person know about being a friend of God, or anyone else?

You see, it has occurred to me that if we cannot be a friend to someone that we can see, touch, feel and hear audibly, we might not have the tools or capacity to have a friendship and deep communion with someone whom we cannot always see, touch, feel and hear audibly.

Would you agree that the same capacity for the attributes of friendship with each other, such as loyalty, honoring others, generosity, acting with accountability, and trustworthiness, are also required to become a friend of God? Would God have a friend who does not listen to what He says, is not loyal to Him, or not trustworthy? I think not. He will love us, He will care about us, but I don’t believe that He will call us His friends under those circumstances.

Imagine a line or continuum called Relationship. At one end of the line would be the beginning point we will call awareness (of another) and at the far end of that line would be intimacy. In between we move from awareness to acquaintance, to social friends, to advisors, to intimate friends.

Process of Relationship

Awareness → Acquaintance → Social → Advisor → Intimate →

Levels of Relationship:

Awareness: We know the person exists. They might be a celebrity, or a neighbor or someone who rides the same train as we do.

Acquaintance: We are not only aware of this person but we have met them, know their name, and perhaps a little about them. They may work where we work, live in our neighborhood or have children at school with our children. They can also be people we met at church or at the grocery store. Some people we are aware of are also our acquaintances.

Social: This is the category of friends that we often think of first when asked about our friends. These are the people that we talk to regularly, go out with or have into our homes. They know more about us than our acquaintances and we may talk about some things that are important to us, or we may not. We care about these people and they care about us in varying degrees. Some of our acquaintances are also social friends.

Advisors: Advisor is not a perfect word here, but I have used it for emphasis to describe a special subset of our social friends. Advisors are the people that we have some sense or level of accountability to. They are the truer friends than others; they will tell us the truth, even when it hurts or is unpopular. They stand for many of the things we stand for and believe in many of the things that we believe in. This doesn’t mean that we are identical, but we have a relationship based on things that we share a common and have a high value for. They love us and weep when we weep, and rejoice when we rejoice. Some of our social friends are also our advisors.

Intimate: Intimate friends are the fewest of all of course. They know us deeply. They know things that are private and most personal and they are our most valuable friends (relationships). These are people who will sacrifice for us, and maybe even give their lives for us. Some of our advisors, are also intimate friends.

One characteristic of this process or levels of relationship that might jump out to you is that as we move to higher levels of friendship, the subset of friends that fall into the next category is smaller.

My friend gave a going away party for someone once, and they joked about inviting the person’s hundred “best friends”. Sadly, if you have one hundred “best friends” you may really have none, because your best friends are going to fall far to the right of center on this continuum. The honoree was long on acquaintances and, but lacked the understanding and the skills to cultivate deeper relationships. Our best friends are our intimate friends which should include( but not be limited to) our spouses.

Another important characteristic of these levels is that the attributes of friendship given above, increase as you move from left to right. You may have no trust for a person that you are simply aware of while they are waiting for the same train as you, but you will have a great deal of trust for your advisors, and more for your intimate friends.

One of the reasons that we need our natural friends is that healthy and enduring friendships nurture in us the very attributes that we need to be a friend of God.

John 15:10-15 says, If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done–kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.

“I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature.

This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you.

This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends.

You are my friends when you do the things I command you.

I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father. [i]

Implicit in this scripture is the message that trustworthiness, the capacity to receive correction, the ability to be loyal in the face of personal detriment, a willingness to listen, to give our time in privacy to another and to share our innermost thoughts and feelings, are part of walking with God and being His friend. Walking with God is walking in communion with Him, endeavoring to see what He sees, and respond in the way that He is telling us to respond.

If you are walking in an intimate relationship with God today, perhaps you might express your gratitude sometime to those friends and mates who have helped you cultivate that capacity in your own life.

If you are not walking in the depth of relationship with God today that you truly desire, then go after Him. While you are pursuing Him, perhaps it would be good to also practice on the friends you have around you?

[i] “Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright � 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.”

Bait and Switch

2010-10-09T14:41:00.001-04:00

Bait and Switch

By Wayne Jacobsen

BodyLife • May 2009

Trading the Vibrant Life of Jesus for a Ritualistic Religion Called Christianity.

I saw the sign a year ago in Georgia: Live Free for Three Months. It was a developer's marketing strategy for a declining housing market. When I saw it, however, I wasn't thinking about houses. I thought about Christianity and how we invite people to live free in Christ and then soon after saddle them with all the obligations of being a "good Christian". We generally don't even let them have three months.

When the early believers were first called Christians, we don't know if it was a complement or a mockery. We do know that they didn't invent the term for themselves. The culture called them "little christs" because they had found so much identity in following Jesus. Whatever spawned the term, those early believers adopted it for themselves and for 2,000 years it has been the dominant identifier for those who claim to follow Christ. But that might be changing.

Recent surveys show even believers are becoming uncomfortable with the term. At least in the United States it is increasingly used not for people who reflect the passion of Jesus in a broken world, but for adherents of a religion that has been built on a distortion of the life and teaching of Jesus, not necessarily it's reality. The results can be confusing.

"Are you a Christian?" I used to love it when someone on a plane asked me that question. "Absolutely," I'd answer, proud to be on the side of all that's good and right in the world. But over the last fifteen years, answering that question has become far more difficult. Much of what has been done in recent years in the name of Christianity embarrasses me and disfigures the God I love. Some of it even horrifies me.

So now when I'm asked the question today, I hedge a bit. "It depends on what you mean by 'Christian'," I often respond. If they are asking whether or not I am a faithful adherent of the religion called Christianity, I have to confess that I'm not. I'm not even trying to be. But if they are asking me if I am a passionate follower of Jesus, the answer would be an enthusiastic yes.

In a few short years those realities have diverged significantly. Perhaps there has not been a time since the Middle Ages, where what it means to be a good Christian and what it means to thrive in a relationship with God, couldn't be more at odds. You can do everything required of a 'good Christian' in our day and still miss out on what it means to know him and be involved in a meaningful relationship with him that transforms you to love as he loved.

How many people endure repetitive rituals certain that doing so endears them to God? How many embrace a slate of ethical rules or doctrinal propositions thinking that doing so ensures God's blessings? Jesus offered us a vibrant life of relationship with his Father, and we ended up creating a religion that often disarms that very Gospel of its glory.

"These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men." (Mark 7:6-7) These words are as true for us today as when Jesus voiced them to the religious captives in his. His warnings in Matthew 23 about the pitfalls of religion, are more applicable in our day than they were in his. When is the last time you heard a sermon from that text? Read it. You'll know why.

Something Is Broken

For the last few months I've done numerous radio interviews for people concerned about what's being called the collapse of Christianity. Newsweek did a cover article in April about the collapse of Christianity's influence in America and that fewer people identify themselves as Christian or are a committed part of a local congregation.

There's a lot of handwringing going on about those statistics, most of them blaming the culture. But the problems in religion itself have never been greater. Conservative Christianity aligned itself with a political agenda and a party that turned out to be as corrupt as it blamed the other party for being. More and more believers I know are embarrassed at the anger and arrogance of many so-called leaders who speak to the press on behalf of Christianity. So it's no wonder to me that last year 4000 churches closed in America, 1700 pastors left the ministry each month and another 1300 pastors were terminated by their church, many without cause, and over 3500 people per day left their church last year.

Clearly we have a problem that cannot be blamed on the secularization of our culture. The kingdom is no longer a pearl of great price, and knowing Jesus is no longer the fruit of our religious activities. And people who are beginning to see that, are often marginalized as rebellious or unsubmitted for simply wanting what Jesus promised them.

Many people giving up on local institutions are not doing so because they've rejected Jesus, but finding that the culture of Christianity is actually diminishing their faith not enhancing it. In an email I got the other day, from a frustrated pastor trying to help people follow Jesus, and is just coming to realize that his own job may be at odds with his greatest passion. "Church has become a hindrance to building relationships and loving others."

He's not alone. Many of us came to faith enamored by the life and teachings of Jesus. We were promised a relationship with God but were handed a religion of doctrines we had to believe, rituals we had to observe, obligations we had to meet and a standard of morality to adopt. While most of those were true enough, many found that their attempts to follow them did not produce either the life of Jesus it promised, nor the reality of true, caring communities of faith.

We have traded the simple power of the Gospel for a religion based on human effort. We were invited to relationship and ended up with a host of irrelevant dogma and burdensome obligations. Fortunately people from all over the world are waking up to a fresh hunger to shed the dictates of religion and embrace the wonder and power of a love-filled relationship with the living God.

Was Christianity Ever Meant to Be a Religion?

I guess all of this begs the question, did Jesus intend to start a religion called Christianity, or did we do this to ourselves? I suspect the latter. I am wholeheartedly convinced that he came to end all religions, not by lashing out against them, but by filling up in the human spirit what religion promises to fill but never can. Religion seeks to manipulate human effort to earn God's approval, when such approval can never be earned.

Abraham, a Jewish man, lead the tour portion of a trip to Israel I was on fifteen years ago. Some of those on the tour had been rude to his faith as they tried to "help" him embrace Jesus as the Messiah. On the last morning, I found him alone by the bus and had the chance to ask him if he'd been offended by some of the remarks.

He smiled. He told me he'd been guiding tours for 30 years and someone is always trying to convert him to their faith--Christians, Reformed Jews, Muslims and Mormons. Then he asked me, "Do you know why it makes no difference to me?"

I shook my head. He led me out to the street and pointed at a building, "Do you see that synagogue with the star of David? That's our building. The one over there with the cross on it is yours. Further down, do you see the dome? That's theirs. On the surface they may look different, but underneath they are all basically the same. You would think that if one of us was serving the Living God, it would look differently."

I still remember how much his words impacted me. Religion is the same all over the world. It is a prescribed set of doctrine, rules, rituals, and ethics. It celebrates sacred space, exalts holy-men as gurus and tries to muscle its way into the culture. For 2000 years many have practiced Christianity as a religion, essentially no different than the others, except in who it claims to follow. But if one of us was serving a Living God, wouldn't it look very different?

When we cram the life of God into a box, we rob it of its life and power and only distinguish it from other religions by claiming a more truthful doctrine. Could that be why Jesus didn't teach his disciples how to gain a following or build institutions. He didn't teach them how to meet on Sunday mornings at 10:00 with a worship band and a leader to lecture the others. He didn't give them a prescribed set of behaviors that people were suppose to follow as the means to serve God.

No, he invited them into his Father's house, and a reality of relationship with his Father that would transform them and opened the way for them to share that love with others. That you can't put into a religion and trying to only chokes out any hope of relationship. Putting creed and doctrine above a growing friendship with him supplants the reality he offered us, no matter how correct our doctrine or moral our ethics.

Don't get me wrong. Truth is vital, as is righteousness, but without love they are also empty. Learning to live as a beloved child is far more transforming than the greatest principle you can follow. The life of Christian community isn't found by sharing religion together, but by embracing a journey of growing relationship with him that transforms us by his grace and power.

Losing Your Religion

What does this mean for us? Should we stop calling ourselves Christian or judge those who do? Should we come up with a new term to franchise so we could separate the ones who live it relationally from the ones who are caught up in religion? If we did, we'd only be making the same mistakes that have diminished our life in Jesus over the centuries.

The truth is that Christianity as a religion is a dangerous disfigurement of the God of the Bible. But not all who call themselves Christians live religiously. Given all the excesses and failures of Christianity, I am delightfully grateful that the Gospel of Jesus is still relatively intact inside its doctrine. Unfortunately it only lets new believers live free for so long before burdening them with religious obligations.

And I meet many believers and leaders who have a profound faith and are seeking healthy ways to communicate that journey with others. I rejoice in that, as I do the amount of compassionate aid that such groups share with the world in need. But too many people miss out on the life Jesus offered them by practicing it as a religion instead of growing to know him.

Ultimately the transformation from practicing religion to living inside a relationship with God is not an institutional battle; it is a personal one. We could tear apart all of our religious institutions today and nothing would change. I've been in many a house church filled with people who see the institutional church as the problem and are oblivious to the fact that they've just moved their religion into a home, where close fellowship only makes it more oppressive.

When God is a distant concept to you instead of a real presence.
When you find yourself following another man, woman, or a set of principles instead of following Jesus.
When fear of eternity, not measuring up, or falling into error drives your actions.
When you find yourself in empty rituals that do not connect you in a real way to him.
When you are burdened by the expectations of others and feel guilty when you can't do enough.
When you look at others who struggle with contempt instead of compassion.
When the approval of others means more to you than remaining in the reality of his love.
When you hesitate to be honest about your doubts or struggles because others will judge you.
When you think of holiness as an unachievable duty, rather than aglorious invitation.
When you think righteousness depends on your efforts instead of his grace working in you.
When following him is more about obligation than affection.
When correcting someone's doctrine is more important than loving them.
When God seems more present on Sunday morning, than he does on Monday.

If you have only known Christianity to be a set of doctrines, rules and rituals, I have great news. Jesus came and died to open up access between you and his Father. Religion supplants that, distracting us with discipline, commitment and hard work that never yields the fruit it promises. If you've been worn out by religion, don't think you're alone. Others are just pretending, afraid they are the only ones, too. Life is only found in him.

Switching Back

There's something about our flesh that craves the illusion of safety that religion affords. Anyone of us can find our heart easily turned toward following rules instead of engaging him. When we recognize that happening, we can simply turn our hearts back to him and choose to move away from the religious traps and connect once again with God as our Father.

Living the Gospel means we live in his love. We come to know the Father's love for us and then sharing that love with him, and with others he puts in our path. (John 13:34-35). No other motive will suffice; no other is necessary. This is where the journey begins and this is the only place it can continue.

Returning to our first love isn't as difficult as we like to make it. For me it just means finding a quiet place and talking to God. When you find yourself caught in religion, tell him you're tired of chasing a religion that isn't working and you want to know him as he really is. Then, wake up each day with a similar prayer on your heart. Watch how he makes himself known to you in the simple reality of living each day. Follow the nudges he puts on your heart instead of the obligations and rituals. Find others who are on this journey and find ways to share the reality of a growing relationship and help guard our hearts about following into empty religious practices.

If you've been steeped in religion for a long time, you'll find yourself going through a very disorienting time. One woman I met called it a Pharisectomy, which is simply having your inner Pharisee removed. You might feel guilty, lonely, lost, or fearful in the process. Your former religious friends may feel threatened that you're no longer doing the things they do. But in time you'll find yourself sliding into the reality of relationship with him that is as increasingly real, transformative and engaging.

Among It, Not of It

So let's not go to war with religion, railing against its failures fighting against its dictates. Instead let's do what Jesus did--let's live beyond it. Let's find a reality of freedom and authenticity in him that can walk alongside anyone with patience and gentleness. Religion is what people crave when they haven't found life in him. Taking their religion away won't fix that. The only thing that will is helping them see a reality of relationship with God that makes all our religious activity unnecessary and unattractive. Jesus could be in religious settings and not be captured by them. He could care about a Pharisee as much as a prostitute.

Live among religion if he asks you to, loving toward those mired in it but you never have to be of it. The Gospel opens the door for us to re-engage the transcendent God, to know him as our Abba and to walk with him through the twists and turns of life, sharing his affection with others.

Live in the reality of that relationship and you'll find it quite naturally finding expression through you as you love and treat others the same way God treats you. People who refuse to live to fear, conform to ritual or put doctrine above love will find themselves having ample opportunity to help others on this journey as well. A dear friend wrote me recently who was feeling a bit swamped by all the people seeking out his help these days, "You didn't say anything about being safe is like hanging up a "counseling available" shingle."

We live in a great day. The emptiness of tradition is being seen for what it is and people are hungering for the reality of relationship. Live there each day and there's no telling where that will take you or who you'll end up walking alongside as Jesus becomes your life.

Then you can live free, not just for a few days or even three months. He came to set you free eternally!

BodyLife is published periodically by Lifestream Ministries and is sent free of charge to anyone whorequests it. For those with email we recommend our web-based version so that we can hold down costs and get it to you much more quickly. This is especially important for international subscribers.

© Copyright 2010 Lifestream Ministries
Permission is herby granted to anyone wishing to make copies for free distribution.

Engaging Secular Culture

2010-09-30T16:09:00.001-04:00

I just read a thought provoking article in the Summer 2009 edition of Cutting Edge Magazine. It's a church planting publication put out by The Vineyard. The article titled "Engaging Secular Culture" (found on pages 19-23) is an interview with Charles Park. Charles pastors The River, a Vineyard Church in NYC. It's a bit long but well worth the read.

Here's a few questions for you...

Which box do you want to be in?
Do you want to swim in the Red Ocean or the Blue Ocean?
Do you want to be Dell or Apple?

I'd love to know your thoughts.

Enjoy,

Tom

Biblical Support for Tattoos

2010-09-29T10:24:00.000-04:00

by Jason Gennaro

Who says tattoos are sacrilegious? Does the bible? Definitely not!

So why do many good Christians condemn us, those who have tattoos or who want to get tattooed?

Unfortunately, I think many Christians do not fully understand the saving grace that was offered to us through the humanity, death, and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

As devout, tattooed Christians, it is incumbent upon us to educate other Christians about:

1. The context of Leviticus 19:28

2. The Old law and the New Law established by Christ and how Leviticus 19:28 relates to the New Law

3. The context for 1 Corinthians 6:19…Your body as a Temple

4. Certain imagery in the Bible

5. Our duty to evangelize

We also need to prove to our critics that our faith is based on more than just tattoos; it is supported by good works as well. And we must pray as often as possible that divisive but trivial issues (such as body art) are cast aside in favour of more pressing problems: Christian unity, the onslaught of relativism, and difficulties in evangelization...

The context of Leviticus 19:28

It seems every Christian anti-tattoo argument is based primarily on one thing...a single verse from Leviticus:

"You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh on account of the dead or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the LORD."

- Leviticus 19:28

Does this verse really condemn all tattoos?

Read properly, no!

Leviticus 19:26-31 deals with pagan practices and God's prohibitions against adopting those practices. In verse 28, God is warning the Jewish people about a pagan practice at funerals, where pagans would mutilate/mark themselves to appease their false gods. The pagans hoped that by cutting themselves and marking images/symbols of idols on their bodies, that they would obtain favour in the afterlife from their false gods, both for themselves and for those who just died.

See the Matthew Henry Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible, the New John Gill Exposition of the Entire Bible, the Adam Clarke Commentary, and the Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible for more detailed analysis.

As no one with a Christian tattoo is trying to pacify a pagan deity, it is safe to say this verse is not relevant to us.

The Old law and the New Law established by Christ and how Leviticus 19:28 relates to the New Law

Still, many who read the Bible will not take into account historical considerations or the full context of Leviticus 19:28.

Yet, there is a very real problem with using this verse in an anti-tattoo argument. One cannot believe that Jesus is Lord and He came to save the world through grace and love and still accept this verse as applicable to us today. It sounds harsh, but it is true. Why? The answer is simple. Christ gave us a New Law, one that supersedes the Old Testament Law, which includes Leviticus 19:28.

By answering the following questions, we will see that Christ's New Law frees us from the fetters that kept us captive to rituals and observances such as Leviticus 19:28.

- What is the Old Law? Why was it necessary?

- If we had a Law, why did we need a New Law?

- How do we know there really is a New Law?

- Does this mean the Old Law is null and void?

What is the Old Law? Why was it necessary?

Before we explain the New Law and its freedoms, we need to look at the Old Law, its nature, and why it was necessary in salvation history.

Before Christ embraced humanity and became man, the world was in disarray: it was divided and people did not understand that we shared a common Father, that is, the one true God. The bible tells us this much. In fact, we know that men were spiritually childlike, immature, and unable to comprehend their sinfulness, and divided as we were, there was no quick solution for unity. It was at this moment, with the coming of Christ already a part of His Divine plan, that the Lord our God took to himself a people who would be set apart and made ready to receive the Redeemer.

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth.

-Deuteronomy 7:6

To prepare for this moment, the fullness of time when Christ would appear, God gave Moses and the Israelites certain laws that awakened their consciences and, at the same time, set them apart from the pagan nations, a kind of "barrier" that ensured the Israelites remained free from "contamination."

Thus we have the Old Law, as outlined in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. The Old Law is divided into two parts, the moral code and the civil and ceremonial precepts (ritual observances). The moral code, summed up in the Ten Commandments, is a natural law, the law of the conscience, gathered by reason, and the foundation upon which man is to realize his vocation to live in the image of God. The commandments make plain what is against the love of God, and therefore they show us our sins. The second part of the Old Law, the observances, was necessary to ensure the Israelites remained united as a people and apart from the pagans.

If we had a Law, why did we need a New Law?

So the next question is, if we had a Law, why did we need a New Law? The truth is this: the Old Law is incomplete. That is not to say it is unholy or uninspired or not part of God's mysterious plan. The Old Law, with its severe punishments and earthly rewards, was necessary for an obstinate people who were both carnal and unspiritual. God wanted his chosen people to develop an awareness of sinfulness so when the fullness of time arrived, God would introduce a New Law that would allow each of us to know, in our hearts, the love of God, who forgives our sins and raises us to eternal life. And therein lies the weaknesses of the Old Law:

- It does not forgive sins (since only God's love can do this)

- It can suggest that our actions, in accordance with the Law, are the only criteria for eternal life (wrong, since only grace based on faith and our cooperation with this grace can guarantee this)

- It relies on fear of punishment, rather than love, which is God

In truth, if the Old Law did have the power to make us righteous and sinless, clean and perfect sacrifices for the Lord, then Jesus' death on the cross, the sacrifice that opens the door to God the Father, would have been unnecessary.

"I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose."

-Galatians 2:21

"Christ has obtained a ministry which is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second."

-Hebrews 8:6-7

It is clear that the Old Law alone does not have the power to free us from the chains of sin, because only the grace of the Holy Spirit, given to the faithful through faith in Christ, is able to remove the stain of sin. Faith and forgiveness of sins are gifts that lead to eternal life, and only Christ can give those gifts. The ceremonial and ritual observances of the Old Law were only indications of a purer, more effective way of life, as seen in the New Law, which, when instituted, rendered much of the Old Law meaningless.

But how do we know there really is a New Law?

The entire New Testament is a proclamation of the New Law, as are the actions of the early church. We see the New Law in:

- The writings of the Apostles, the Evangelists, and St. Paul

- The actions of the Early Church

- Christ's words and actions

In the New Testament, St. John the Baptist is among the first persons to acknowledge that there is a New Law we are to follow if we are to obtain forgiveness of sins and gain eternal life.

"The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said,

'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'"

-John 1:29

In just one statement, St. John the Baptist makes it clear that Jesus is the sacrifice (Lamb) that removes our sin, not the sacrifices outlined in the Old Law. If the ritual observances held any weight at this point, St. John the Baptist would have said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who, along with circumcision and burnt offerings, takes away the sin of the world!'" But he didn't.

St. John the Evangelist, in his Gospel, outlines the necessity of faith—not simply observance of the Old Law—as the basis for the gaining of the Kingdom:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

-John 3:16

St. John doesn't write that in order to gain the kingdom, we must be circumcised or offer burnt offerings on an altar or refuse to touch lepers. No, he writes that primarily we need to have faith, faith in Christ.

And St. Peter, first among the Apostles and leader of the early Church, said that faith in Christ, and not adherence to the Old Law, is the main requirement for the forgiveness of sins:

"To him all the prophets bear witness that every one who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

-Acts 10:43

If some Christians believe that these expressions are too obtuse and obscure and do not sufficiently describe the abrogation of the Old Law in favour of the New Law, then I say that they should read what St. Paul had to say about the Law that governed the lives of the Jews. St. Paul is prodigious in his condemnation of the Old Law as the only necessary tool for the attainment of salvation:

"You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love."

-Galatians 5:4-6

"But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit."

-Romans 7:6

"For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith"

-Philippians 3:8-9

"Our competence is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not in a written code but in the Spirit; for the written code kills, but the Spirit gives life."

-2 Corinthians 3:5-6

In addition to the writings of the apostles, evangelists, and St. Paul, the actions of the early church indicate that a New Law was being realized.

St. Peter, leader of the Church and Christ's proxy on earth, shows by example while visiting the pagan Cornelius, who is astounded that St. Peter would meet with him, someone considered unclean by the standards expressed in the Old Law. Here, Peter tells those gathered in the house of Cornelius that a New Law has been promulgated:

"You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit any one of another nation; but God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean."

-Acts 10:28

In the next few years, the early Church would become even more adamant about severing itself from the ritual practices that enslaved the Jews and kept them from loving all equally. In Acts 15, we see the leaders of the Church (Peter, James, Paul, Barnabas, and many others) gather to clarify the Church's position towards circumcision, one of the holiest (and most separatist) laws of the Old Covenant established by Moses. The result should surprise no one: the apostles abolished the requirement for circumcision and almost every other law that bound the Jews. Why? The Holy Spirit told them not to lay a greater burden than was necessary (Acts 15:28) because faith was the first necessary element for a life in Christ.

Another of the most sacred laws of the Old Covenant, the Sabbath, was thoroughly eroded by the time St. Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians.

"On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made."

-1 Corinthians 16:2

The first day of the week during that time was Sunday, and this verse clearly shows that this was the day that Christians met to celebrate as a community (as opposed to the Jewish Sabbath, Saturday). How could the Christians have abandoned the old Sabbath, one of the holiest of precepts, if they did not have a New Law requiring faith and responding to grace?

But perhaps some Christians may say forget everything above: the early Church misinterpreted what Jesus said and did during His ministry. How far from the Truth this is! Jesus not only spoke about the New Covenant He was establishing, He acted in a way so as to make it abundantly clear that His New Law was a matter of fact:

- He calls apostles uneducated in the Law

- He forgives sinners almost exclusively

- He condemns the religious orthodoxy (Pharisees)

- His teachings and parables show examples of the New Law

- He breaks the Old Law

If Christ were concerned about perpetuating the Old Law, would He not have chosen all of his apostles from among the Pharisees and Sadducees, who were rigid in their confirmation to the Law? Instead, Jesus' choice of men is the complete opposite of such a scenario. His apostles are fishermen, tax collectors, and rebel fighters, hardly those who would be best to teach adherence to the Old Law.

Furthermore, who can contradict the Gospels, which relate how Jesus forgives the sins of pagans, unclean persons, and egregious sinners. (John 5:1, Mark 7:24, Mark 8:22, Matthew 9:20) If God were so concerned with rituals and observances, would Christ have bothered with these people, who obviously did not adhere to the Old Law? No, obviously not. So what do these "sinners" have in common? They have faith, the first necessary element for our union with God. That is why Jesus tells those He healed, "Your faith has made you well."

Of course, Jesus not only saves the sinners, He also condemns those who do follow the Law without concern for the Spirit, and this is very important. The very people who epitomize the Old Law are the people for whom Jesus reserves His most bitter condemnations. In several instances, Jesus denounces the Pharisees, who pride themselves on their strict adherence to the Law.

"How is it that you fail to perceive that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sad'ducees. Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sad'ducees."

-Matthew 16:11-12

Sts. Matthew and Luke also relate a vehement speech in which Christ denounces the Pharisees, and by implication, the Old Law and its ritual observances to which they are so dedicated:

"...But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in… And you say, 'If any one swears by the altar, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.' You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; and he who swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it; and he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith..."

-selected verses from Matthew 23 (see also Luke 11:39-52)

Jesus' denunciation of the actions of the Pharisees does not end there. He also comments on their observances (part of the Old Law) and how those observances have no power to save them. In the parable of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee, the Tax Collector, who understands he is a sinner but has faith that God will save him, is justified while the Pharisee, who fasts twice a week and tithes all he gets, receives no justification (Luke 18:9-14)

Even Christ's teachings, His parables, are filled with the application and celebration of the New Law. In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-35), it is not the priest or the Levite—staunch followers of the Old Law—who help the man who was beaten by robbers. Why didn't they help him? Well, if he had died or was dead already, the priest and the Levite, being followers of the Law, would have had to undergo a rigorous cleansing process. Of course, this "process," part of the Law, left no room for compassion. That is why it was the Samaritan, someone outside the Law, who aided the helpless man. Christ is showing us here that love, working in us through the Holy Spirit, is what's important, not adherence to a Law that puts so-called cleanliness above compassion.

With clarity, Jesus rescinds the prohibition against eating foods deemed unclean by the Old Law, because the prohibition has zero chance of making someone holy and welcoming to God:

"And he called the people to him and said to them, "Hear and understand: not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man."

-Matthew 15:10-11

Lastly, Jesus will BREAK certain precepts of the Old Law in order to show that rituals and observances are nothing without the Spirit, which moves us in unexplainable ways. Christ shocks and angers the Pharisees on two occasions, when He disobeys the Law restricting work on the Sabbath, one of the most revered of the Laws. In one instance, Christ heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath (Luke 6:6-10, Mark 3:1-5), and, in another instance, He allows His apostles to pick and eat wheat in a field on the Sabbath (Luke 6:1-5, Matthew 12:1-8). Would Jesus do such things if the Old Law were sacrosanct? This is doubtful. Instead, it's more likely that He wanted to show that observance means little if the heart, the Spirit, is not part of the equation.

Then, there are those who say, "What about Christ's proclamation that He did not come to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfil them?" (Matthew 5:17) It is true that Jesus said that not one iota of the law will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. But Jesus accomplished everything. His life, death, and resurrection fulfilled the prophecies and brought to a conclusion the Old Covenant, opening the way for a New Covenant governed by a New Law. So, when Christ is talking about the Law remaining, he is saying to his contemporaries that they will not see a change while he is alive.

Does this mean the Old Law is null and void?

Without a doubt, we have shown that God, through Christ, has instituted a New Law. Now what? Is all the Old Law null and void? Not at all! We know that each of us needs to follow what is essential in the Old Law: the Ten Commandments. How do we know this? Jesus told us so. When the lawyer asked him to name the first (that is, the most important) commandment, Jesus answered:

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."

- Matthew 22:37-40

Here, Christ explicitly tells us that laws we need to follow are those that deal with the love of God and the love of our neighbour. Therefore, He is telling us to continue to practice the moral code (the Ten Commandments), but do so because you are motivated by love and spirit rather than fear of punishment.

In fact, Jesus not only tells us that the only part of the Law that is necessary is the Decalogue (Ten Commandments), He also takes those commandments and gives us a new understanding, based on his New Law of love and faith. He shows that it is not enough to follow the letter of the Law, there is also an underlying Spirit:

"You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire."

-Matthew 5:21-22 (see also verses 23-48)

Conclusion: the New Law

It is true that we have a New Law that both fulfills and abrogates the Old Law, by elevating the moral code (the Ten Commandments) and rescinding the rituals and observances. Hence, we are not bound by certain Laws, such as those that require our circumcision or the abstention from certain foods. It becomes rather obvious that the prohibition against tattoos in Leviticus is also one of those Laws. It is as simple as that.

The Context of 1 Corinthians 6:19…Your Body as a Temple

Of course, tattoo opponents also like to stress these words of St. Paul:

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body."

-1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Unfortunately, the tattoo opponents have not read this verse in context. Here St. Paul is not opposing tattoos but warning the residents of Corinth about the dangers of sexual promiscuity, especially in the pagan practice of having sex with ritual prostitutes. To put this into perspective, Corinth during St. Paul's time was a thriving Metropolis, a rich city with two ports. One of its main attractions was a massive temple dedicated to the Greek Goddess of Love, Aphrodite. Thousands of ritual prostitutes, used in celebration of Aphrodite, congregated around the temple. Since a sizeable part of the newly formed Christian community in Corinth was of pagan origin, the use of ritual prostitutes was something of a habit that needed to be broken. In his letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul shows that we belong to God, brought about through His Son Jesus Christ's sacrifice, and that fornicating with ritual prostitutes is tantamount to sacrificing to false Gods. He is also showing that sexual immorality is a sin against the body, which houses the Holy Spirit, in essence, sexual immorality is a sin committed directly against God.

Certain Imagery in the Bible

We know that religious tattooing before the time of Christ was common for nearly everyone except the Jewish people (otherwise we would not see the prohibition in Leviticus 19:28).

And although there are no scriptural references in which we are told to "get tattooed" (and we wouldn't expect any), there are a number of verses in which the writers, whom we believe were inspired by the Holy Spirit, speak about permanent markings and outward physical signs of devotion. In a very real way, religious tattoos are like those permanent outward signs.

"And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth."

-Exodus 13:9

"It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes; for by a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt."

-Exodus 13:16

A full reading of these verses shows that God is speaking figuratively about a celebration of the day the Jewish people were saved and brought out of Egypt. For the Jews, this celebration will be their unique mark. Later, around the time of Christ, the Jews began to take these verses literally, tying small leather boxes (phylacteries) on their arms and foreheads and placing passages of Scripture in the boxes.

"This one will say, 'I am the LORD's,' another will call himself by the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, 'The Lord's,' and surname himself by the name of Israel."

-Isaiah 44:5

"Behold, I have graven you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me."

-Isaiah 49:16

Here Isaiah is speaking God's word to the more conscious minorities of Israel who, during their exile, are worried about becoming lost amidst the pagans of Babylon. Through Isaiah, God reminds His people that he will never forget them because He loves them, and as proof that He will never abandon them, He tells the Jews that He has graven [carved into...written permanently] on his hands a reminder to save them.

"And the LORD said to him, 'Go through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark upon the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it'."

-Ezekiel 9:4

The mark in this verse refers to the letter T or the Hebrew letter Tau, which appears as the shape of a cross, and which was painted in lamb's blood on the door posts to save the "remnant" of Israel when God wiped out all the first born of Egypt during the last plague. In this instance, the mark will be placed upon believers who are saddened by the sins committed in Jerusalem.

"Henceforth let no man trouble me; for I bear on my body the brand marks of Jesus."

-Galatians 6:17

Here, St. Paul is likely discussing the beatings and punishments he endured for the sake of the Gospel of Christ (see 2 Cor. 11:24-28). This is a pointed jab at those who believe they are justified by other marks, that is, circumcision. Undeniable, though, is the tattoo imagery. Brand marks are what Roman slave owners tattooed on their chattel to display ownership.

"Then I saw another angel ascend from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, 'Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads.'"

-Revelation 7:2-3

"On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords."

-Revelation 19:16

This last verse from Revelation is part of John's prophecy about the destruction of the Roman Empire and the heretofore-invincible Roman armies. The verse shows Christ as the "Master of the Universe" whose name, which is the Word of God (and, in essence, everything), is more than just a title on a royal garment. Instead, it is something that belongs to Jesus alone and is intrinsically linked to He who is Lord of all...through a unique marking on his body.

Now before you e-mail me, remember that these verses are not tattoo proof verses. They only show that permanent markings and outward signs of devotion, similar to our religious tattoos, are not foreign to God or His people.

Our Duty to Evangelize

Finally, it's important that Christians realize that Jesus doesn't want us to hide our faith or keep our faith to ourselves. Just the opposite. He commands us to do everything within our power to let our brothers and sisters know the one true Word, the Good News:

"Go, therefore, and make disciples from all the nations."

-Matthew 28:19

"What I tell you in the dark, utter in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops."

-Matthew 10:27

In fact, even if we wanted to keep it to ourselves (for selfish reasons or for fear of persecution), once the Spirit moves us, we can longer keep silent:

"No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a bushel, but on a stand, that those who enter may see the light."

-Luke 11:33

So, whether we choose stone tablets or tattoos, God, through the Holy Spirit, lets us discover the different and dynamic ways we let others know about Him. One thing is certain, though: as Christians, we need to fully proclaim our beliefs, every day of our lives.

Conclusion

It is beyond doubt that tattoos are NOT sinful and that Christians expressing their faith with some ink under their skin have NOT succumbed to Satan's wiles (at least, not because of the tattoos). Yet, let us remember that just because we are allowed to be tattooed, doesn't mean that this is what is best for everyone. St. Paul tells us that we need to be careful that our actions do not lead others away from the faith:

"Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for any one to make others fall by what he eats; it is right not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother stumble."

-Romans 14:20-21

With that in mind, let us pray that, through the intercession of the Holy Spirit, each of us may understand God's intention for us, and whether or not that calling includes some permanent ink under our skin.

Did you find this article helpful? Please consider a small donation to help with the upkeep of the Web site (labor and expenses). Thanks again.

Last updated: April 28, 2007

© Copyright Jason Gennaro 2002-07. Feel free to use this article to educate friends, colleagues, parents, children, believers, and unbelievers. Provided you are not printing the article for monetary gain (e.g., including it in a book), you have my permission to reprint it. If you do print it out, please consider contacting me to let me know what you used it for. I always like to hear how the article was used.

"Gifting" by Halcyon

2010-08-17T10:37:00.001-04:00

I begin my journey back to Burning Man in about a week. This is my third trip t the playa and I'm thrilled that Nadine finally gets to join me! Gifting is one of Burning Man's cultural distinctives. In the video below halcyon describes it extraordinarily well, enjoy.

"Gifting" - by Halcyon from Belief Buffet on Vimeo.

My First Tattoos

2010-08-12T17:45:00.004-04:00

Well, I finally did it. August 12, 2010 I got my first tattoos. Three of them. I've been considering this for a long time, about four years. I knew what I wanted, where I wanted them and why. I found a great artist and Nadine gave me her blessing. They look awesome, I couldn't be happier.

The First: "Qin'ah"

Qin'ah is Hebrew meaning, passion or zeal. It's from Psalm 69:9 and John 2:17 "Zeal for your house will consume me." Passion is one of the four elements of my personal ethos, I wrote about it back on October 26, 2007. The color red can mean a few different things. One interpretation of red is wisdom. Passion needs to be tempered with wisdom, thus red was the primary color. Why the left forearm? Well, I have had a few spiritual experiences where God reveals part of his nature or character to me. I have had multiple experiences with The Spirits of Wisdom & Revelation (See Ephesians 1:17). In those experiences Wisdom has always been on my left with Revelation on my right.

The Second: "Dĕrowr"

Dĕrowr is Hebrew as well and it means freedom or liberty. It's from Isaiah 61:1 and Luke 4:18 where Jesus said that "He was sent to bind up the brokenhearted and proclaim freedom for the captives". Freedom is another aspect of my personal ethos. Blue represents revelation and the revelation of truth will set people free. This tat is on my right forearm.

The Third: "Philos Theos"

Philos Theos means "Friend of God" or God's fond one. It's taken from James 2:23 where the patriarch Abraham is called the friend of God. One of the most important lessons I've learned on my spiritual journey is that the highest place I can attain is not found in ministry, but in relationship. The location was inspired by a friend Keith. He says "It's like the tag of a shirt to remind me of who I am." I like that, thanks Keith.

The Artist: "Brian Paul"
I found Brian at Kings Avenue Tattoo using Google. Their work is amazing, their shop is impeccably clean and extremely profession. Not only does Brian do great work, he's a really nice guy. I recommend him wholeheartedly!

The Pain
You know what, tattoos hurt! But it's an odd kind of hurt. Different than anything else I've ever experienced. While actually being tattooed the Philios Theos far and away hurt the most. However, afterward Qin'ah has been the most irritated - sort of like a nasty sunburn.. All in all I'm extremely pleased!

No More Infomercial Christianity

2010-08-06T16:51:00.002-04:00

To all my colleagues in "the ministry" when we utilize hype, exaggeration or manipulation to communicate our message, promote our ministries or ask for financial support; we do more harm than good to God's Kingdom. The collateral damage is spiritually devastating to the churched, the unchurched and the post churched. It's wrong, it's deceptive, it's sin and it's time to stop it!

When we hype the supernatural we're actually desensitize people to the real presence and power of God. Using hype to promote ourselves or advance ministry is selfish and deeply damaging the work of Christ around the world. It would be better to do nothing than to employ these deceptive models. Enough is enough. No more infomercial Christianity. It's time to walk the walk.

The Shrinking 40%

2010-08-02T17:24:00.009-04:00

The Shrinking 40%

by Tim Stevens

In the book, The Forgotten Ways, author Alan Hirsch identifies a problem that I’ve been wrestling with for several months now.

He says that the way we do church is working with fewer people all the time. What does the way we do church mean? It means the model of Christendom that has been followed for the past 1700 years or so and that most of us are a product of is becoming quickly ineffective in today’s world. I’m not talking styles of worship, high church or low church, mainline or independent, protestant or catholic. I’m talking about all of those churches combined. Just about every church in America can be described by three words: “Come to us.” That is it. We put on amazing services and do everything we can to communicate truth to the people who make the effort to come to “the box” for worship.

Let me explain it this way…

The Shrinking 40% - these are people for whom the “come to us” model works. We can put on great weekend services, and 40% of the people in our community are still attracted to, or at least not repelled by, that model. For some communities on the left or right coast—this may actually be 20% or less. Hirsch believes it might be 35% for America overall. For our church in northern Indiana, we are still relatively insulated from the coastal influence—and we believe it could be around 40%. Whether the correct number is 40% or 50% or higher—there probably isn’t a place in America where this number isn’t shrinking.

The Growing 60% – these are people who believe in God (whatever that means for them), have a respect for Jesus, and are on a spiritual journey, but they don’t consider the church (as we know it) as a resource to help them take steps. And it is likely they never will. They pursue their spirituality through culture, friendships, music, TV personalities, their own study of the Bible, self-help books and more.Research indicates “young adults today are less church-connected than prior generations were when they were in their 20s. But…they’re just about as spiritual as their parents and grandparents were at those ages.” An even newer study published a couple weeks ago indicates if the current trends continue, “the Millennial generation will see churches closing as quickly as GM dealerships,” this according to Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources. In the group’s survey of 1,200 18- to 29-year-olds, 72% say they’re “really more spiritual than religious.”

Here’s what I think we should do about the Shrinking 40% — I think we should still create amazing church services and knock the ball out of the park on everything we do inside the box. Why would we not? It’s working for a huge percentage of our community! We should do whatever works to attract them, introduce them to Jesus, help them grow in their faith, and motivate them to make a difference in the world.

But I don’t think we can ignore the Growing 60%. Up until now, I honestly don’t think I ignored them. I just didn’t think about them. I’m a statistics guy, and it is the statistics (that I talked about earlier) which are waking me up to a missional problem. Now that I’m aware of the Growing 60% –I can either ignore them (and in reality tell them to go to Hell), or I can do something about it.

I don’t even know what that means. I just know that as churches we have to figure out how to deliver the gospel of Jesus in a way that doesn’t require them to come to the box. Because attracting people to come to the box is only working for a Shrinking 40%. And the Growing 60% will never be reached that way.

It’s not either/or. It’s finding the genius of the AND.

Why Do Bad Things Happen?

2010-07-30T11:13:00.003-04:00

I participated in a lively group discussion last night. A group of friends have been gathering for a few weeks now. We eat together, worship a bit and talk about... stuff. So last night I threw out the following question: “Why do bad things happen?”

Now all those assembled have been around church circles most of their lives. Through the years we’d all been exposed to various theologies and philosophies attempting to explain this age old question. Here are a few of the answers we came up with:

We are reaping what we’ve sown
We’re out of God’s will
There's a lesson we need to learn
It’s warfare, a spiritual attack
It’s the effect of our sin
It’s the effect of someone else’s sin
It’s demonic payback or backlash for our good deeds
The injustice experienced creates an opportunity for Divine justice
A combination of the above explanations

My guess is that you could add a few additional items to this list.

So, here’s my point, when bad things happen – do we really know why? Do we know with a definitive certainty why it happened? I think not. If we’re uncertain why bad things happen to us, then we’re even less certain why they happen to others. That uncertainty is a very good reason for grace. Grace toward others and ourselves; grace and dramatically less judgment. Bad things happen and we don’t always know why. When bad things do happen may our default position be one of grace.

What say you?

.

Anointing and Hearing God’s Voice

2010-07-28T15:00:00.004-04:00

Anointing and Hearing God’s Voice
by Jim Driscoll

Why is it that God’s voice seems easier to hear on certain days than it does on other days?

One reason could be that relationship with God is cyclical in the sense that He will draw near, and He will draw away. There are days when He just draws away. Most of us go through seasons in which we hear from God a lot and other seasons of “divine silence,” in which it seems like He isn’t speaking. This doesn’t happen because of us — because we’re failing to do something important or because we’re doing something wrong; it is a natural fluctuation of intimacy and separation. Leviticus specifies a similar dynamic between husband and wife that is driven by biological cycle.

If we are having difficulty hearing God’s voice, it could also be an issue of peace. We have a much harder time communicating with God when we are stressed, dealing with fear or if He is speaking to us about topics that are hard for us to believe or accept.

However, if our days and emotions remain basically the same, and one day we’re hearing clearly and the next day we aren’t, it most likely has to do with anointing.

The level of anointing in a person’s life tends to oscillate from one day to the next, from one week to the next. The anointing is what helps our brains recognize that what we are hearing or seeing is important. It stimulates our spiritual senses and makes us want to pay attention to God. We feel His presence, and we get excited. In a way, the anointing provides incentive for listening and spending time with Him.

When the anointing is high and God speaks to us, we are much more likely to recognize, This is God! I need to listen to this. But when the anointing is low, we may not realize anything happened.

His whisper is easy to ignore, and it isn’t inherently going to demand our attention. God says many things in moments of low anointing to see if we’re going to notice Him even when our minds don’t immediately register that something important is happening. On days of low anointing, hearing from God takes more work. He may be saying the same number of things He said the day before, but we will often wonder if He is speaking at all because the whisper can be so hard to discern.

This is why it is good for us to desire to hear Him more than we desire to be anointed, more than we desire to see results and more than we desire to feel comfortable or like we know what we’re doing. If we pay attention to everything we think might be from Him, even if we are uncertain in the moment, it will be much harder for us to miss His voice, no matter our current level of anointing or how quietly He is speaking.

For additional articles by Jim Driscoll check out Stir the Water
Additionally, I'm happy to recommend Jim's new book "The Modern Seer"

What to Do When You Disagree with Your Pastor

2010-05-21T00:25:00.005-04:00

So you find yourself in disagreement with church leadership, what can you do? What are your options?

You can stay in the church, keep your mouth shut and continue to disagree. This might work... for a while. Over time it could however, become an issue of personal character and integrity, depending on the nature of the disagreement.
You can stay and try to influence change as trust is earned and favor is granted. Maybe you're there to intercede?
You can stay and change your opinion so that you agree with church leadership.
You can choose to submit - even in disagreement, trusting God and the leader.
You can stay and make trouble via gossip, complaining and innuendo. This is rebellion and lawlessness, I strongly encourage you to reject this option.
You can leave and make trouble as you go, maybe create division by taking a group of people with you. This too is rebellion and lawlessness. I strongly encourage against this option as well.
You can wait until God releases you and then leave well, with a blessing..If you feel you must leave, this is the best option for you.

Bottom line is this... with a pure heart ask God what he wants you to do and then go and do that very thing with with humility and in love.

A couple of parting thoughts...

Even if we do not respect the leadership God has placed over us (Rom.13:1), we can still treat them with honor. And we should.
I heard someone say once that even though we may have a bad father we can still choose to be good sons.

I hope this helps some of the struggling sheep out there. Please leave a comment and let me know if this was helpful, Also, if you see any additional option that I may have overlooked please let me know what they are, I'll consider adding them to my list, thanks.

(C) Tom Zawacki, 2010

Sunday's Coming

2010-05-13T16:02:00.000-04:00

Great satire but will it motivate us to change?
So church folks... Why do we do the things we do?
What needs to change?
What are we waiting for?
Your feedback is welcomed and encouraged.

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

Take The Best and Go

2010-04-01T13:48:00.002-04:00

Here's an excerpt of Tri Robinson's post "Take The Best and Go"
It's a thought provoking article from a seasoned veteran, a must read for every church leader.

For the full article click HERE

When a movement of God begins, it is a centered set event with few restrictions in place allowing all kinds of people to join in. The centered set phase is an exciting time, generally led by charismatic vision and the exhilaration of life-changing ministry that is fresh and constantly spawning new life. It draws in the churched and unchurched alike. There is salvation of new believers and rededication of faith by those disillusioned or disappointed by past negative church experiences. This life-giving time with all the exuberance of craziness soon leads to an increase of policy and measures of control which closes in the center that once drew people together. Slowly but surely the centered set movement evolves into what Hiebert referred to as a “fuzzy set.” This process happens one decision at a time, each time adding one dot of confinement until the dots become so numerous that they begin to close off the very life that started the movement in the first place. The restricted flow of new life is much like a clogged artery that finally ends in a heart attack stopping life altogether. This is what Hiebert called the “bounded set” and what ultimately causes the death of what was once a dynamic move of God.^{^[2]} John warned us that historically many authentic moves of God gravitate into over structured institutions that are dead for years before they are even aware of it.

As gloomy as this lecture seemed to me when John first presented it, I soon realized his message wasn’t just a message of warning, but one of hope. That’s when he added a second bell-shaped curve that swung upward again from the descending side of the first one. It was then that he exhorted us to “take the best and go.” Knowing that he might not be around when this event was to happen, John challenged us as leaders to be honestly aware of where we were on the curve and make a decision to start over, taking the best of who we were and leaving the worst behind. I’ll never forget sitting there in that large sanctuary along with hundreds of other young developing leaders being shocked as he announced with great passion that when this event occurred he would be the first to go. For me, it was a profound moment and one which I can’t help but revisit at this particular time of my journey.

Do You Need Some Holy Ghost Drāno?

2010-03-09T23:45:00.010-05:00

by J. Lee Grady - Fire In My Bones

We can't reach the younger generation with yesterday's stale religion. It's time to unclog our wells. Last week I spoke to a group of ministry leaders associated with a particular Pentecostal denomination in South Carolina. Many of these men and women are hungry for a fresh move of God, but they are also aware that they aren't effectively reaching people for Christ. Most of their small congregations are getting grayer by the day.

I told these folks they have only two options: Change or die.

Using a story from the life of Isaac, I reminded them that we should never build our ministries with only one generation in mind. God identifies Himself as "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" (Ex. 3:6, NASB). He wants His work to advance from one generation to the next. And this requires us to be flexible and open to change.

After Abraham's death, Isaac journeyed to the land of Gerar during a famine. While there he rolled up his sleeves and did some backbreaking work. Genesis 26:18 says, "Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them."

This passage reveals a clear spiritual principle. God wants to open spiritual wells of blessing, but He doesn't want to limit that blessing to one generation. Our enemy loves to stuff our wells with all kinds of garbage—religiosity, tradition, legalism, denominational politics, strife, jealousy, cold-heartedness, pride and immorality. If we want our wells to flow continually, then we must unstop them.

While Isaac did not change the names of Abraham's wells, he renovated them so they could be a blessing to his generation. In the same manner, we must be willing to remodel our ministries (even totally gut them if necessary) so the younger generation will want the drink we offer. We can't change our core message, but we won't effectively reach the Isaac generation with a stale, outdated presentation.

We need an extreme makeover. Here are just a few areas where you may need renovation, remodeling and unclogging:

1. Genuine, authentic spirituality. During the Pentecostal/charismatic movement, we overdosed on hype. We celebrated preachers who wore shiny suits and helmet hair. We thought it was acceptable to push people to the floor during altar ministry times. We developed our own set of strange pulpit mannerisms. But all this must go. Young people today are nauseated by fakery and pretense. We don't have to act weird to be supernatural.

2. Music styles. Worship causes war in some churches because we become so attached to the music of our generation. I want to scream to people my age and older: "It's not about you!" If we want to reach younger people then we must update our playlists. Don't be selfish; you can listen to your golden oldies in the car or at home. But don't build your church services around the music of 1972.

3. Dress codes. Casual Friday has become the norm in most businesses, but a lot of churches never got the memo. Young people feel out of place when everyone looks like they are at a funeral. Many young guys today can't afford to buy a dark suit (nor would they be caught dead wearing one) and most young women don't want to be forced to wear a feathered hat, white gloves or a skirt that covers their ankles. Nothing will clog up your well faster than yesterday's religious garb.

4. Team leadership. The one-man show was the norm in churches in 1980, but we've proven that benevolent dictatorships have no place in the church. That system didn't work and it wasn't biblical. Young people today want interaction and connection. In the New Testament, Paul had a multigenerational, multiethnic team that included men and women (see Rom. 16:1-16). So should we.

5. Relational discipleship. In the past season—which was dominated by television—Christians tended to be spectators who built their spiritual lives around big events. But church will not work that way in the digital age. Young people don't want to learn from a guy who arrives at the church in a limousine, sits on a throne on the stage, preaches from a pedestal and then disappears into his green room. They want a real relationship with a real spiritual father (or mother) who is willing to spend time with them.

6. Technology. You would never go to a foreign country to serve as a missionary without learning its language. Yet today many churches try to reach the younger generation without mastering digital media. Don't be intimidated by change. If a child can use an iPhone you can learn how to tweet. God wants to use all new forms of communication to spread His truth.

Don't get stuck in an old place. The Holy Ghost offers the best Drāno for your clogged wells. Open up your life and ministry to the new things God is doing in this exciting hour.

J. Lee Grady was editor of Charisma for 11 years and is now serving as contributing editor. You can find him on Twitter at leegrady. His new book, The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale, releases later this month.

Geographic Transitions

2010-02-23T12:11:00.001-05:00

by John Paul Jackson
Streams Ministries International
July 11, 2001

One of life's greatest opportunities is the discovery and recognition of the place where God has created and destined you to live. Some refer to this place as discovering the "Land of Your Anointing." I call it the LAW OF GEOGRAPHIC ANOINTING. Although this law is not specifically mentioned in Scripture, it is mingled among the Bible stories of many godly men and women.

"He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the Earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being" Acts 17:26-28.

Geography matters to God. He made geography before He created mankind. Places are full of destiny. They are areas of divine habitation where God has and will commune with men and women. God not only created the place of your anointing, but He specifically designed you to have an influence upon people in that place! This place will spiritually shape your life.

Did you know that God has determined the specific moment in history in which He wants you to live? He has even determined the exact place, including the number on your house or apartment, in which you should live.

To Adam, it was the Garden of Eden. To Abraham and Moses, it was the Promised Land, which they knew not, but to which they journeyed toward. To Elijah, it was the wilderness and the Brook Cherith. To Esther, it was Shushan (Babylon). To Ruth, it was Bethlehem. To 120 disciples of Jesus, it was the Upper Room. Interestingly, nearly 500 people were told to go to the Upper Room, but only 120 went. As a reward of their obedience, they received the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit that day (Acts 2:2-4).

As you step into the place God has sent you, it may feel overwhelming. While God is never far away, it may feel as if He is on a distant planet. You may wonder why God brought you there, which will compel you to search for God in new ways. Unknowingly, your spiritual journey will lead you into new experiences and new opportunities. In the end, you will have reached a higher measure of anointing. Believe it or not, this is precisely what God had planned all along!

Geography determines whom you will meet, who you will influence, who you will marry, and where you will work. When you are positioned in the land of your anointing, you will be empowered to attain the highest level of faith, courage, and anointing. Why? You were designed by God to succeed in that specific environment.

Whenever God wants to transform an area, He will raise up people to accomplish the task. God will move them into a specific area so they will serve as light bearers in a region of darkness.

God is forever daring us to do the unexpected. In Him, there is no limit to what we can do. Taking the road not yet traveled can be invigorating when we view the risks simply as new opportunities to grow and mature in God.

As Israel migrated to the Promised Land, God strategically directed them along the way. Wherever they went, God prepared a nation to be conquered. If they were obedient, the outcome was glorious. God had promised them a land flowing with lavish fruit, a land where sickness and barrenness would cease, and a land of great increase both in stature and in number. As God's people ventured forward, the land responded to the presence of righteousness (Romans 8).

Geography controls the level of favor that God gives us. As we move into new arenas, God places favor in the hearts of others. Favor is essential to being given spiritual authority over an area. One day of favor is worth a thousand days of labor.

In the season of transition, our circle of influence changes. For many of us, it will increase. If it doesn't increase, we have usually failed to maintain the influence God had given us with others as we add new relationships to our former relationships. Or if we are running away from a painful situation, we burn bridges of relationships, stopping our influence from occurring in someone's life.

One mistake we can make is to RESIST geographic transitions. We may be tempted to believe God has situated us in our final place of anointing. However, God may have simply intended our current situation to groom us for greater opportunities that lay ahead.

When I look back over my lifetime, key aspects of my ministry were matured in three distinct locations: Dallas, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; and Anaheim, California. Each geographic area offered me valuable lessons that helped to develop my present ministry. None of these cities were permanent places of residence. None were places where my greatest anointing would be seen. Instead, these places served as a training ground for future opportunities to extend the Kingdom of God.

Another mistake we can make is to run from a present battle. We mistakenly believe if we are facing a battle, we must have missed God's best. Or, that God has abandoned us. So we run to another location, church, or job to escape the pain of battle. However, every battle will prepare us for our future. If we do not engage in the present battle, we will not be strong enough to face future conflicts where Satan will seek to abort our anointing. Never make the mistake of running from a battle. Remember, we go from strength to strength until we appear before God in Zion (Psalm 84:7).

Over the years, I have discovered that God takes me to places that will help to shape my purposes and plans. Geographic locations actually help to determine what grows within us. Our difficulties will serve to strengthen us. God will allow the enemy to resist us, and thereby,
strengthen us for what is ahead. This strategy was precisely what God did with Israel:

God took them to a place He had prepared for them (Exodus 23:20).
God sent His angel to prepare the way and to fight on their behalf (Exodus 23:20).
God used the enemy to ultimately strengthen them (Exodus 23:29-30).

Remember, your ultimate success in God is always linked to a geographic place. God has destined, created, and groomed you to take the Light of Christ to a place or to a person living in a particular place.

Geographic transitions are part of the glorious process of extending God's Kingdom. As you move forward in God, He will position you so that you will accomplish your divine destiny and show forth the riches of His glory.

For more information on John Paul or Streams please visit his website at StreamsMinistries.com

Radically Rethinking the Church

2010-02-13T13:02:00.001-05:00

Written by Don Williams

Wednesday, 23 January 2008

I have recently met a quiet, intense radical Christian, Alan Hirsch, who wants to dismantle 1600 years of church history by reconfiguring the church as mission rather than the church as community extending or promoting mission. While this doesn't sound dramatic and seems to follow a whole line of current thinking on the church as a missional community, I assure you that Hirsch will not support most of the hip thinking on this subject today. So here we go, reviewing his book The Forgotten Ways. We may have more to say on KingdomRain.net as this conversation continues. Stay tuned and join in. First Response, January 2008

Radically Rethinking the Church with Alan Hirsch

Introduction

Personal Context

Who is Alan Hirsch? He is Australian by birth, Jewish in background, a church planter and a major force in rethinking the nature of the Church and its missional purpose in the world. He begins by tracing some of his own journey. His conviction is that most of what the church does today, traditional and contemporary, is far from Jesus' intension and model.

Historical Context

The early church was Christocentric, missional, decentralized, networked and flexible, penetrating and transforming individuals and structures in the Roman Empire until the Constantinian Establishment in the early 4th Century. Up until then persecution kept the church simple and committed, it necessarily lived close to the cross and had “the feel of a movement.” With Constantine it was legitimized and politicized. As a result it became institutionalized with top-down leadership operating in an authority structure of “command and control.” Thus the church has lived out her life as an extension of Constantine's radical change from organism to organization, from networked, relational communities to legally connected institutions, from mission penetrating the world (a Jesus Movement) to ministry maintaining the flock, etc.

In so far as we see the church today with centralized authoritarian structures we are Constantinian rather than Apostolic. As we picture the church, Constantine continues to be “the emperor of our imaginations.” (66) This has led to its slow erosion in the West. No simple tweaking of the structure will reverse this. “Seeker friendly” and “Emerging, post-modern churches” are still Constantinian. They pursue mission from a central commitment to building the church on an attractional model: gaining new members through comfortable facilities, dynamic leaders, contemporary worship, cultural relevancy, programs for every age group, need responsive services, social concern and even convenient parking. The goal of this philosophy of ministry is to build a church. Mission becomes an extension of an authoritarian, centralized community where peoples' needs are addressed and satisfied.

From a sheer statistical and sociological analysis, these churches have little impact beyond themselves and no impact across multicultural and multiethnic lines. Therefore, Hirsch calls us to a radical restructuring of our theology and ministry (dethroning Constantine) if we are going to touch today's un-churched masses. The shift from the modern to the post-modern world poses a “significant adaptive challenge” to the church. Current responses leave prevailing assumptions about the church's mission intact. These need to be challenged. We need a new story of the church and its mission. We need to replace Constantine with a “fundamentally alternative imagination.” We must go back to Jesus himself.

Contemporary Context

First, we are subject to a dualistic spirituality, which separates the sacred from the secular. Religion is privatized with a “church-based” deity. This results in practical polytheism with different gods over different spheres of life (Christ is not functionally Lord of all). Second, we live in a consumer culture where “much of that which goes by the name advertising is an explicit offer of a sense of identity, meaning, purpose and community,” (107) the very things the church once offered. Now capitalism and the free marked mediate value. The nation-state mediates protection and provision and science mediates truth and understanding.

In our consumer society “it's easy to see how 'church shopping,' ecstatic worship experiences, and even Christian spirituality can come to reflect the consumerization of faith.” (109) “...the church is forced into the role of being little more than a vendor of religious goods and services.” (110) “Christendom, operating as it does in the attractional mode and run by professionals, was already susceptible to consumerism, but under the influence of contemporary church growth practice, consumerism has actually become the driving ideology of the church's ministry.” “I have come to the dreaded conclusion that we simply cannot consume our way into discipleship.” (110) Hirsch warns, “Don't just make the service and spirituality suit a post-modern audience, start at another place – put the M (mission) in the equation first.” (72)

Response

There must be a fundamental return to the New Testament church and a consequent change in priorities. This begins with the surrender of the traditional church model, which is: Christology produces ecclesiology, which produces missiology (Or Christ comes and builds his church which then moves out in mission.). The New Testament church model must replace this: Christology produces missiology, which produces ecclesiology (Or Christ comes and moves out in mission which then creates communities to serve that mission). This produces church structures, which are flexible, organic, relative and accommodating to the changing cultural context of mission. The missional church forms communities within the social fabric of those it is trying to reach, which are relative to that fabric.

The heart of the Christian faith is “Christocentric monotheism” realigning our loyalties “to God around the person and work of Jesus Christ.” (93) Jesus’ movement is a messianic movement. Discipleship, his central priority, means, “constantly embody(ing) the life, spirituality and mission of its Founder.” “It will mean taking the (Four) Gospels seriously as the primary texts that define us.” We are to act like Jesus to those outside the faith. (94) Simple Christology has the capacity to rapidly transfer the message along relational lines. It makes the gospel “sneezable” (releasing a good infection). God always works at the fringes of society, which then brings life to the center. Christology defines all that we do: “Jesus Christ, friend of outcasts.”

Every Christian has “apostolic genius” implanted in him or her waiting to be released. Hirsch writes, “Apostolic Genius is the phrase I developed to try to conceive and articulate that unique energy and force that imbues phenomenal Jesus movements in history.” (274) He defines this as “the total phenomenon resulting from a complex of multiform and real experiences of God, types of expressions, organizational structures, leadership ethos, spiritual power, mode of belief, etc.” Like each human cell carrying our DNA, we all have direct access to the full missional apostolic coding, mDNA. We need to reach inside and find it. This includes five essentials for the New Testament church.

First - disciple making. Here is our fundamental failure. The consumer, attractional church is unable to do this. [I might also add because it carries a large dose of codependency within its leadership.] The medium always becomes the message: the consumer church necessarily makes more passive consumers. Consumerism and discipleship are at odds. “Both aim at the mastery over our lives.”(110) “Jesus’ [discipleship] strategy is to get a whole lot of little versions of him infiltrating every nook and cranny of society by reproducing himself in and through his people.” (113) The church is to provide “inspirational leadership.” “The quality of the church's leadership is directly proportional to the quality of discipleship.” (119)

Second - missional-incarnational impulse. “Any church that adopts a missional-incarnational impulse has moved closer to being an authentic Jesus Movement.” (76) Jesus organizes discipleship around mission. “Straightway they [his disciples] are involved in proclaiming the kingdom of God, serving the poor, healing and casting out demons. It is active and direct disciple making in the context of mission.” “Jesus selects a band of disciples, lives his life with them, ministers with them and mentors them... We should not think that we could generate authentic disciples in any other way.” (120)

The evangelistic-attractional model of church obscures Mission. It blocks the outward-bound movement built into the gospel. Incarnational mission includes presence, proximity, powerlessness (servant-hood – love and humility) and proclamation. We are a “message tribe” which is thoroughly contextualized. We take the church to the people rather than bring people to church. “We must seek to develop genuine Jesus communities in the midst of people – an actual functioning part of the existing culture and life of that people group.” (140) “Because it respects the culture and the integrity of a people group, missional-incarnational practice enhances the relational fabric of a given host culture.” (141) “Start with the church and the mission will probably get lost. Start with mission and it is likely that the church will be found.” (143) Groups that come together around a non-missional purpose never become missional. (233) “To forget mission is to forget ourselves.” (237) “One of the most missional things that a church community could do is simply to get out of their buildings and go to where people are.” (240)

Third - Apostolic environment. Apostolic leadership is measured by the effect it has on the social environment in which it operates as it extends the Christian faith. “The apostolic leader...embodies, symbolizes and re-presents the apostolic mission to the missional community. Furthermore, he or she calls forth and develops the gifts and callings of God's people.” (152) Apostolic leaders are “the custodian of apostolic genius.” They move the church from maintenance to mission. They pioneer new ground, guard apostolic theology, network churches, traversing between them, and create an environment in which other ministries emerge. Apostles inspire followers to become leaders in their own right. Their “greatness is to inspire greatness in others.” They provide inspirational leadership rather than transactional leadership (top-down management of staff and resources for an exchange of value). They invite others into a dance that is being choreographed as it is performed. This contrasts with institutional systems that confer social power and concentrate it at the top. “Besides, the servant/slave image of leadership (dis)qualifies all forms of top-down leadership and establishes the bottom-up servant approach.” (165)

Fourth - Organic Systems. Traditionally churches organize around static, mechanistic, institutional paradigm. Roles are managerial for those who “run a church.” But living systems have rhythms and structures, which mirror life itself. All living things have an aptitude for survival, adaptation and reproduction. Information brings change: all living systems respond to information. God's people have everything they need to adapt and thrive in any setting. Missional leadership brings various elements of the system into meaningful relationship, moves the system to deal with the real issues facing it, select the flow of information to help the community respond to the church's primary narrative in the Four Gospels and embrace its core tasks in its essential cultural and social contexts. “Existing relationships with believers and nonbelievers alike become the very fabric of the church.”

The early church was “pre-institutional.” “Structures are needed, but they must be simple, reproducible and internal rather than external.” Institutionalization takes on a life of its own. It fails to serve the mission. Centralized authority creates a culture of restraint and dependency where members fail to take responsibility for their own growth or reaching others. Reproducibility needs to be built into the initiating model, setting out to plant reproducing churches. The attractional church model is “simply not reproducible – at least not by the vast majority of average Christians.” (215)

Fifth - Communitas not Community. Communitas is the fellowship of the journey, the road, in the context of danger and a common purpose outside of itself. In China “The Spirit of Jesus activated it in the context of chaos and adaptive challenge.” (78) The middle class wants safety, security, comfort and convenience. It promotes the “gather and amuse” impulse of church growth. (220) But communitas and its companion “liminality” (African tribes taking their youth into adulthood through disorienting rites of passage) “describe the dynamics of the Christian community inspired to overcome their instincts to “huddle and cuddle.” (221) Communitas and liminality denote a dangerous journey, disorientation and marginalization into the unknown. “Liminality and communitas are more the normative situation and condition of the pilgrim people of God.” (222)

Conclusion

“The challenge is not to direct living systems, but to disturb them in a manner that approximates the desired outcome and then for leadership to try and focus the intention by the use of meaning and vision. This process of disturbing the system is a critical function of leadership. It is about creating conditions in which change, adaptation and innovation will take place.” (232-233) “The future is a means to alter behavior.” We are to “manage from the future.” This pulls us out of comfort into chaos, the “now and not yet tension” of the kingdom.

For myself, I was converted through Young Life, which was (and is) missional at its core. I immediately became an evangelist to my friends because this was the way I understood the Christian life. Along the way I lost a good part of this replacing reaching the lost with pastoring the found. But during the Jesus Movement in the late 1960's reaching the lost again became my passion. I later found that this was John Wimber's heart as well. Now, in the latter days of my life, I am rethinking the whole thing once again. I will have more to share about this in the future as I and we live out the “now and not yet tension” of the kingdom together.

Church is Messy

2010-01-14T17:52:00.002-05:00

Organic Church = Full of Crap
by Bill Heroman
The work God needs to do within a local body of believers will always be messy, but Institutional Christendom keeps peons & yokels from participating precisely because they make messes. The shift is: who says messes are bad? Antiseptic works well for hospitals and elementary schools, but not in gardens or forests. After all, crap makes good fertilizer, and God is a gardener... To read the rest of this thought provoking article go to www.billheroman.com

(ht to madison richards)

The Great Emerengce

2010-01-04T22:36:00.002-05:00

Forty Seven EXTREMELY thought provoking minutes! Phyllis Tickle's message "The Great Emergence" presented at Vineyard Community Church in Shoreline, WA. Video provided by Recycle Your Faith.
I encourage you to watch, listen, think and ask questions...
Tom

Phyllis Tickle - The Great Emergence from Recycle Your Faith on Vimeo.

Freedom is Worth the Fight!

2010-01-03T23:00:00.003-05:00

Breaveheart is one of my all time favorite movie. I love Wallace's passion for freedom, it inspires me. What are you willing to fight for? What stirs your passion? What are you waiting for? Let's ride!

"Fight and you may die.
Run and you will live... at least awhile.
And dying in your bed many years from now,
would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that
for one chance, just one cahnce, to come back here as young men
and tell our enemies that they may take our lives but they will never take
our freedom!" ~ William Wallace

Orders

2009-12-31T11:43:00.006-05:00

Imagine you're one of the disciples, Jesus has given orders, it time to move - you're going to the other side of the lake. On your way a furious storm hits... The full account is recorded in Matthew 8. I have a few observations, let me share them with you.

Jesus Gives Orders
At various stages of our spiritual journey we receive clear, specific divine direction. We know that we know.

Storms Come
Despite the crystal clarity and wholehearted obedience it's still difficult and often scary.

Faith is Required
At some point we will have to decide... will we trust the One who gave the orders or yield to the overwhelming empirical evidence of our circumstances?

Disciples are Amazed
Amid the chaos God does God sized things and those who follow Him are amazed at what He can do in the midst of the storm.

2010
I believe that in the coming year we will face furious storms as a result of our obedience. Faith will be required, God will move and we will be amazed.

Let the adventure begin!

Priceless Insights from the Left

2009-12-22T12:30:00.004-05:00

I am a Closet Christian

At least, until now. Because in my circle, nothing is more embarrassing than being being religious.

By Ada Calhoun
Dec. 22, 2009

It was Sunday morning in my scruffy Brooklyn, N.Y., neighborhood, and I was wearing a dress. Walking to the subway, I ran into a friend heading home from yoga class. She wore sweats and carried her mat over her shoulder. "Where are you going so early all dressed up?" she asked, chuckling. "To church?" We shared a laugh at the absurdity of a liberal New Yorker heading off to worship.

The real joke? I totally was.

Inside the church, it's cool and quiet. I read the Collect of the day in the Book of Common Prayer, which urges us: "While we are placed among
things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall
endure." My recent layoff no longer seems like the end of the world. I take Communion and exchange the peace and listen to the sermon. As I'm walking back up the aisle, I feel reoriented and calmer, the indignities of the week shift into perspective.

These moments are not only sacred; they are secret. Outside, on the steps of the downtown Manhattan church, I think I see someone familiar coming down the sidewalk, and I bolt in the other direction.

Why am I so paranoid? I'm not cheating on my husband, committing crimes or doing drugs. But those are battles my cosmopolitan, progressive friends would understand. Many of them had to come out -- as gay, as alcoholics, as artists in places where art was not valued. To them, my situation is far more sinister: I am the bane of their youth, the boogeyman of their politics, the very thing they left their small towns to escape. I am a Christian.

I certainly wasn't born one. I was raised bohemian in New York's East Village in the '80s. I was fascinated by religions but also baffled by them. (If anything, I assumed I was Jewish.) When I began traveling around the world alone at 18, I longed for a religious experience, something that would inspire me to cast my lot with a denomination the way you choose a political party. But nothing really clicked.

I got a taste of the divine at Hindu shrines in south India, and when Mother Teresa grabbed my head and blessed me while I was working for her ministry in Calcutta I felt a kind of electricity rush through my body. Later, when I almost died from amoebic dysentery in New Delhi, I did hallucinate that the Jesus poster on the wall of the clinic moved. But these experiences were no more formative than the Tolstoy books I read on those 24-hour train trips across India.

In college, I majored in Sanskrit and translated part of the Atharvaveda for my senior thesis. I studied Jewish history, Zen and Hinduism with equal interest. The closest thing to my religious sensibility back then was either Pure Land Buddhism ("the world is emptiness ... and yet") or Gnosticism (though my penchant for makeouts kept me from achieving their level of physical self-denial).

When I hit my early 20s I found existential gratification in that feeling at the end of the night, drunk and awake and looking out into the rain while the bar closed and not knowing what was going to happen next. I worshiped at the altar of the Replacements and had romances that only made sense in the context of a Paul Westerberg song. I felt closest to figuring things out when I drank too much coffee and smoked too many cigarettes and stayed up too late.

Sometime later I got married, and the priest with whom my husband and I did premarital counseling had firsthand experience of closing bars, but he also was smart and eloquent and fulfilled. He showed me the best side of Christianity. Not how it's right or just, but how -- and this may sound stupid, but it's what I think about religion in general -- it works.

All of us need help with birth and death and good and evil, and religion can give us that. It doesn't solve problems. It reminds you that, yes, those challenges are real and important and folks throughout history have struggled and thought about them too, and by the way, here is some profound writing on the subject from people whose whole job is to think about this stuff.

The idea of an eternal community brings me comfort: I like the image of a long table extending backward and forward in time, and everyone who's ever taken Communion is sitting at it. The Bible at the 1920s stone church where my husband and I were married was filled with the names of people in the community who'd married, been born and died. When my son was baptized in our church in a traditional Easter eve service, the light spreading from candle to candle through the pews of the dark church made me feel, at least for one moment, we were united in a sense of gratitude for new life and awe in the face of the numinous.

Oh, I don't know. Unless you're William James or Saint Catherine of Siena it's hard to talk about any of this without sounding dumb, or like a zealot, or ridiculous. And who wants to be lumped in with all the other Christians, especially the ones you see on TV protesting gay marriage, giving money to charlatans, and letting priests molest children? Andy Warhol went to mass every Sunday, but not even his closest friends knew he was a devout Catholic until his death. I get that.

"[Closeted Christianity] definitely exists in Manhattan, some Democratic corners in Washington, and I'd bet parts of Northern California," says Amy Sullivan, author of "The Party Faithful: How and Why Democrats Are Closing the God Gap." Sullivan says after her book about the Christian left came out, "colleagues in New York were taking me out for these clandestine lunches and leaning across the table and whispering excitedly, 'Pssst! I'm one of them!'"

The Panel Study of American Religion and Ethnicity asked people how they felt about those outside their close friends and family knowing they were religious. About 2 percent said they didn't want people to know, and that percentage is higher among people with liberal politics and people, like me, who are part of Generation X.

Barry Kosmin at the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture at Trinity College says it's ridiculous that, in a city like New York, where there is a church on every corner, anyone would hide their religion. He says he was at a conference in Seattle recently where atheists complained about having to hide their lack of beliefs. "Everyone's paranoid!" he says.

But if you're in a place like New York City -- or Austin, Texas, or Portland, Ore., or Los Angeles -- the "new atheists" surround you. In October 2009, the atheist organization Big Apple Coalition of Reason (COR) started a poster campaign to celebrate non-belief. "A million New Yorkers are good without God. Are you?" reads one such poster. A similar campaign in London led by the bestselling author Richard Dawkins reads, "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

Writers like Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Victor J. Stenger -- and, of course, performers like Bill Maher -- get loads of press mocking the dummies gullible enough to believe some guy a couple thousand years ago was God's son. But come on. It's like shooting Christian fish car magnets in a barrel.

I'll give the atheists a lot: The Creation Museum is a riot. The psychos shooting up abortion clinics and telling gay couples they're going to hell are evil, and anyone of faith has an obligation to condemn them. Abominable stuff has been done in God's name for centuries. The Bible has a lot of crazy shit in it about stoning people for using the wrong salad fork. Up with science and reason!

And yet, atheists are at least as fundamentalist and zealous as any religious people I know, and they have nothing good to show for it: no stained glass, no great literature, no great art, no comfort in the face of death. Just dissipated Christopher Hitchens sounding off on "Larry King Live" and a stack of smug books with childishly provocative titles.

A lot of my best friends are atheists, and there's no reason they wouldn't be. They find what I get from religion elsewhere, like from music and art. Not long ago, I told a priest at my church that my friends equated religion with horrible things. I expected her to tell me I had some obligation to stop hiding my faith, but she said, pulling a scarf around her neck to hide her priest's collar, "Those preachers on the subways make me cringe." She said she prefers Saint Francis: "Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words."

I could reassure my atheist friends that the Episcopal Church is a force for equality and social justice. It ordained its first gay bishop, Gene Robinson, in 2003. It takes the Bible as a mandate to fight hunger and disease and to rebuild after disasters. I believe that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other politically involved religious groups who take the gospel as an excuse to spread hate and support specific candidates and propositions should have their tax-free status taken away.

Maybe, though, apolitical Christianity is on the rise. The Obamas are now in office -- a good Christian family in the truest sense of the term -- and the right wing is more marginalized than it was a year ago. My friend, the young (and kind of ridiculously hot) priest the Rev. Astrid Storm, whom I used to edit at Nerve.com, says she's sensing more acceptance:

"When I said I was a priest, it was always a conversation stopper," she says. "Recently someone asked what I did, and when I told him he said, 'How interesting. There are a lot of exciting things happening right now in the Episcopal Church, aren't there?' The diversity of opinion people are reading about in the news -- about gay marriage, female priests, poverty issues -- are showing how Christianity isn't monolithic."

Christianity in the popular imagination is decreasingly linked with evangelicals, agrees John Spalding, founder of the SoMa Review, so it's freed up people who were once embarrassed to self-identify as Christians. "It's no longer like, 'You're just like Pat Robertson. Leave this dinner party,'" Spalding says.

But faith and religion are hard to talk about; maybe they're not necessary to talk about. Even though I am a feminist, I've always had a problem with the personal being political. It gave me a lot of anxiety back in the '90s. If I enjoyed a book with a titillating rape scene in it, did that mean I should be stripped of my membership in the Women's Action Coalition? If I liked wearing Blackberry Revlon lipstick and an off-the-shoulder shirt, was I a tool of the patriarchy?

And now, too, I wonder: When I go to church, am I liable for every monstrous thing every denomination has ever done in the name of Jesus? Am I allowed to get spiritual fulfillment from something that has been, and continues to be, so disastrously invoked by other people? Am I allowed to just go to church sometimes and read the Bible sometimes without wearing a huge cross necklace and checking an official box on forms?

But also, increasingly, I wonder: When I'm getting a ride from some friends and they start talking about how stupid religious people are and quoting lines from"Religulous," do I have an obligation to point out how reductive and bigoted they're being, the way I would if they were talking about a particular race? Increasingly I wonder if I should pipe up from the back seat and say, "Excuse me, but these fools you're talking about? I'm one of them."

-- By Ada Calhoun

Emancipation of the Freed

An Apology from a Christian

How to Shrink Your Church

Punishment or Cure?

Living Love

Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

I Love Them Whores

Multiple Choice Test

Facebook Musings on Trust

Tom ZawackiPondering trust, trusting God.

In This House...

Kathryn Schulz: On being wrong | Video on TED.com

Stained Glass Masquerade

Desiring the Kingdom

Seven Characteristics of Spiritual Abuse

Bad News About Your Pastor

What I Want To Do

Why vs. What

The Man I Want To Be

Loving People Different Than You

Who in this picture is Naked?

How We Short-Circuit the Power of God

How do we know what we are seeing is from God?

How to Become a Friend of God

Bait and Switch

Bait and Switch

By Wayne Jacobsen

BodyLife • May 2009

Something Is Broken

Was Christianity Ever Meant to Be a Religion?

Losing Your Religion

Switching Back

Among It, Not of It

Engaging Secular Culture

Biblical Support for Tattoos

"Gifting" by Halcyon

My First Tattoos

No More Infomercial Christianity

The Shrinking 40%

Why Do Bad Things Happen?

Anointing and Hearing God’s Voice

What to Do When You Disagree with Your Pastor

Sunday's Coming

Take The Best and Go

Do You Need Some Holy Ghost Drāno?

Geographic Transitions

Radically Rethinking the Church

Church is Messy

The Great Emerengce

Freedom is Worth the Fight!

Orders

Priceless Insights from the Left

Tom Zawacki
Pondering trust, trusting God.