worldwide phenomenon

Modern technology is amazing!  In this day and time we have the ability to write things that software on our computers will translate for others who do not speak our language to read.  We also have the ability to read the writings of others who speak a different language than we do.  The following is a clip from a blog from a french speaking brother in Canada.  It seems that the problems with the institutional church is a phenomena that is not  exclusively in the United States.  Check this (the translation is a bit hazy but I think you'll get the picture):

People are much more open to spiritual realities that we are often led to believe.But the church is an obstacle. They are often open to God and Jesus, but reject categorically the traditional church. Often not by malice, but simply because they find it odd, and because the weight of history is against her.

We must stop trying to attract people to us. They will not, or very little. Because they have no reason to come. They are not interested in what they are given answers all our beautiful pre-chewed. And it is the pride of thinking that they should normally (not?), Be interested in our programs and our "help."

 Unless the church returns to her first love of being the body of Christ, we will not be bringing people to be disciples of Christ. We will only be bringing them to be disciples of the system.  Folks do not want or need another system.  What they need is to be a part of the family of God.

you feeling it?

Have you ever heard the expression "you could really feel the spirit move during the worship service this Sunday"?  I have.  Everywhere.  Not just in charasmatic or pentecostal churches but in Southern Baptist and even (gasp) reformed churches!  EVERYWHERE I'VE BEEN...  This cartoon made me chuckle and sigh all at the same time.  My lungs are confused.

from ASBO Jesus

Yeppers....thats about right.  It's all about knowing your audience and giving them what they want.  As long as you know what they want and then deliver it, the crowds keep coming.  Everyones happy because everyone is entertained.  This is NOT what the church looks like in the New Testament.  This is what is looked forward to by those who plan to "go to church" every week.

But is anyone growing?  Is anyone being equipped to minister?  Is God's temple being built?  Is Christ's body displayed including all its members?  Is Christ the Head (and by head I mean director)?  Is everyone able to participate and minister to one another freely yet with order as we see in 1 Cor 14?

The traditional church of today looks nothing like the church of the NT.  Do we really think that is a good thing?

Are you a Calvinist?

This question and I have a love/hate relationship.  I hate this question because usually the person asking it has already drawn conclusions (usually false conclusions) about what a person believes simply by the "calvinist" label.  As a result, the rest of the dialogue turns into a sovereignty vs mindless robot debate.  What I love about the question is that it gives me an opportunity to share how indestructible our faith is when it is founded upon Christ and his unassisted, finished work in the lives of all those who have faith in him.  I thought that this debate among Christians would be worth a few thoughts as we focus especially this week on unity and where unity is needed the most.


Today I read the Desiringgod blog where John Piper encourages us to tell what we believe rather than assuming that the label is good enough.  This is most definitely the best approach to the type of questions that intend to apply labels.  Consider this:

If they say, “Are you a Calvinist?” say, “You decide. Here is what I believe . . .”

I believe I am so spiritually corrupt and prideful and rebellious that I would never have come to faith in Jesus without God’s merciful, sovereign victory over the last vestiges of my rebellion. (1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 3:1–4; Romans 8:7).

I believe that God chose me to be his child before the foundation of the world, on the basis of nothing in me, foreknown or otherwise. (Ephesians 1:4–6; Acts 13:48;Romans 8:29–30; 11:5–7)

I believe Christ died as a substitute for sinners to provide a bona fide offer of salvation to all people, and that he had an invincible design in his death to obtain his chosen bride, namely, the assembly of all believers, whose names were eternally written in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain. (John 3:16; John 10:15; Ephesians 5:25;Revelation 13:8)

When I was dead in my trespasses, and blind to the beauty of Christ, God made me alive, opened the eyes of my heart, granted me to believe, and united me to Jesus, with all the benefits of forgiveness and justification and eternal life. (Ephesians 2:4–5; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Philippians 2:29; Ephesians 2:8–9; Acts 16:14; Ephesians 1:7;Philippians 3:9)

I am eternally secure not mainly because of anything I did in the past, but decisively because God is faithful to complete the work he began—to sustain my faith, and to keep me from apostasy, and to hold me back from sin that leads to death. (1 Corinthians 1:8–9; 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24; Philippians 1:6; 1 Peter 1:5; Jude 1:25;John 10:28–29; 1 John 5:16)

 This reminds me of a debate I read about between Calvinist Charles Simeon (1759-1836) and Arminian John Wesley (1703-1791) about what they had in common in the midst of the controversy.

[Simeon] Sir, I understand that you are called an Arminian; and I have been sometimes called a Calvinist; and therefore I suppose we are to draw daggers.  But before I consent to begin the combat, with your permission I will ask you a few questions.  Pray, Sir, do you feel yourself a depraved creature, so depraved that you would never have thought of turning to God, if God had not first put it into your heart?

[Wesley] Yes, I do indeed.

[Simeon] And do you utterly despair of recommending yourself to God by anything you can do; and look for salvation solely through the blood and righteousness of Christ?

[Wesley] Yes, solely through Christ.

[Simeon] But, Sir, supposing you were at first saved by Christ, are you not somehow or other to save yourself afterwards by your own works?

[Wesley] No, I must be saved by Christ from first to last.

[Simeon] Allowing, then, that you were first turned by the grace of God, are you not in some way or other to keep yourself by your own power?

[Wesley] No.

[Simeon] What then, are you to be upheld every hour and every moment by God, as much as an infant in its mother’s arms?

[Wesley] Yes, altogether.

[Simeon] And is all your hope in the grace and mercy of God to preserve you unto His heavenly kingdom?

[Wesley] Yes, I have no hope but in Him.

[Simeon] Then, Sir, with your leave I will put up my dagger again; for this is all my Calvinism; this is my election my justification by faith, my final perseverance: it is in substance all that I hold, and as I hold it; and therefore, if you please, instead of searching out terms and phrases to be a ground of contention between us, we will cordially unite in those things where in we agree.

We so easily disagree when we assume the worst in one another.  If only we could lean more on what we have in common, then maybe our differences would make more sense.  In order for that to happen we actually have to listen to one another rather than just waiting for our turn to speak. 

too much is never enough

On the way back to our shop today we drove past a car accident that consumed the entire road.  There was plenty of time to take a look at the damages to the vehicles and as I looked on something struck me as strange.

The accident was between only two vehicles:  a Range Rover (like the one pictured) and a total beater.  The front end of the pristine white SUV was smashed beyond recognition.  The beater was totalled from the collision on it's driver side.  The strangeness of what I was seeing began when I looked past the vehicles and saw the drivers on the curb.  It was clear who was driving which car by how they were dressed.  I noticed that the driver who was operating the beater looked somewhat dazed and annoyed from the inconvenience of it all.  Then my eyes moved to the very well dressed woman sobbing nearly hysterically as she gazed at her totally smashed possession.

I thought:  here is a man who, if I ventured a guess, just smashed in the only car he could possibly afford and the insurance was likely not going to pay enough to buy him more transportation.  Even if it was a beater of lesser value (if that were possible).  He should have looked distraught and worried about what he was going to do, how he was going to get around, what he was going to do to get through this.  He just looked like he wanted to move on, go on about his day and do what he could to finally get to his destination.  The much more affluent woman was covering her face and wailing like she a mother who had just run over one of her children.  She likely had at least one other vehicle at home and she would be back behind the wheel of another status symbol on wheels in no time.  But she was clearly overwhelmed with the condition of her vehicle.

Isn't it obvious how the things we own end up owning us?

Where were you @ 11 oclock on Sunday?

I have been bouncing an idea around in my head. What if my family and I wander around our neighborhood during the corporate worship service hour and look for folks walking their dog, washing their car, cleaning their yard or whatever and tell them all about what Jesus has done, is doing, and will do for us and listen for ways to serve them? I'm thinking it would be a great way to get to know our neighbors and maybe advance the kingdom. What do you think?

Virtual community in the wilderness

If you have been reading my blog any you know that my convictions prevent me from being a part of an institutional church gathering.  Because of that we have spent some time with some families who house church locally.  More recently we have been looking forward to gathering with the believers in our own neighborhood.  So far this endeavor has been disappointing.  Things aren't moving along as quickly as I expected or hoped.  I have been starving for community with folks that love Jesus and thinking about joining back with the house churching families sometime soon.

Today we had a bit of a house party and one of those families joined us for the fun and fellowship.  I had some time to talk with Eric about my hopes and frustrations.  He said some very encouraging things.  He reminded me of missionaries that spent years in an area before they saw any conversions.  They faithfully followed where God brought them and trusted Him for the results...no matter how long it took.  That is exactly what I needed to hear.  After the party I checked my reader and there I found a wonderful post by Jeff at Losing My Religion.  Jeff tells about what he calls the in-between and it sounds just like what I refer to as the wilderness.  His words echo my heart.  Here is a bit:

 "That being said, because of the blog, I've obviously become friends with a lot of people who are Christ-followers but aren't currently engaged in a regular gathering with other believers. Some of these folks have been 'outsiders' for several years, others for a few months. Some of them even believe it's okay not to belong to a community, and have no plans to be in one. Many others, though, express a sense of loneliness and loss, because they actually want to be in community--they just feel sort of exiled because they can't in good conscience belong to any of the traditional forms of gathering taking place around them. (That longing is actually what's drawn many of us into the blogosphere, because at least we can find someone else online who has an inkling of what we're feeling--and that's actually drawn some of us into a sort of pseudo-community.)"

 I thank God for providing me with fellowship manna.  Just the right amount, you know?  Not too much, not too little.  It has come in different forms.  The right encouragement at the right time face-to-face like Eric and the right post at the right time from Jeff.  It's nice to know that I'm not all alone out here in the wilderness.  God will carry us through.  I know He will.

Defining the "local church"

I have been thinking and writing about the biblical basis for denominations recently.  As I look at scripture the only reason I see for a body of believers to be divided is geography.  The church is one but it is located in different towns cities and nations.  Churches in the New Testament didn't divide from one another according to doctrines, races, spiritual gifts or musical preferences.  There were no membership classes or votes to be accepted.  There were no confessional statements that everyone agreed on.  The only thing that distinguished one church from another is the city they were in.

Alan Knox has published a re-post of a blog he wrote some time back that asks the question "what is a local church?"  Click the link to read the entire article.  Alan asks some very significant questions that I think are directly related to the denominations we see in churches today.  Here are just a few questions to spark your interest.  I'm especially interested in how those of you who defend denominations would answer these questions.

What do you think of when you hear the phrase “local church”?

Do you think of a building on the corner with a steeple? Most believers will admit that this is not a church, but may be a building where a church meets. But, what about the people who meet there?

Is the local church a group of believers who meet regularly at a specific place and at a specific time? Does a regularly meeting define a “local church”? Again, most believers will accept that someone may be part of a “local church” even if that person cannot meet at each regularly scheduled meeting. So, what about membership?

Law before Gospel?

Recently as I have been reading I have crossed a common thread, especially among reformed writers, that in order to effectively reach unbelievers with the gospel we must first use the law to expose their sin.  They say that without knowledge of sin there is no need for a savior.

Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron have a popular show on television called "The Way of the Master" that shows how this method can be used to reach people with the good news of Jesus Christ.  Basically it works like this:  you quote each of the Ten Commandments one by one and ask the person if they have obeyed each commandment perfectly their entire lives.  When they answer "no" then you are able to show them that by their own admittance they are a "God hating, adulterous, liar or a idolatrous, thief and coveter..." whatever the case may be.  Now they are primed to hear the gospel that Christ came to save us from our sin.  But is this the way of the master?

In Luke 10 Jesus is confronted by a lawyer and tested.  Jesus asks the man "What is written in the law?  How do you read it?"  After he answers Jesus said to him "You have answered correctly.  Do this and live."  So clearly Jesus did use the law to show the source of eternal life (the lawyers original question).  Yet earlier in the same chapter of Luke's gospel Jesus sends out the seventy-two.  Here is what He instructs them to do:  "Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you." (Luke 10:8-9 ESV)  No mention at all of the law only to speak and show that the Kingdom of God is near.

If the way of the master is to preach the law before the gospel then Paul directly contradicted this in 1 Cor 9 where he writes:  To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. (1 Corinthians 9:20-21 ESV)

So then the law is a good evangelistic tool for those who are already trying to follow the law but not for those who are without knowledge of the law.  If that is the case then evangelistic methods that put the law before the gospel in order to reach non-Jews aren't the way of the master.

We should preach Christ and Him crucified.  We should seek to put Jesus on display through our words and deeds.  When unbelievers see the body of Christ, when they are given a revelation of who God is, when they see him high and lifted up, when they see his glory in the face of Jesus Christ they will be convicted of sin.  They will know their need for him.  The law may bring us to the knowledge of sin but it is ineffective to bring us to a knowledge of Christ.  It is not necessary to bring someone to the knowledge of sin through the law, that knowledge will come as they are shown the glory of Emmanuel.

It is the Holy Spirit that convicts us of sin and He does so through a revelation of Jesus Christ.  Jesus told his disciples:   "And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." (John 16:8-11 ESV).

Because He is Good-Sermon Jam

I love the work they are doing at 10:31sermonjams.com.  Some of he beats are great and coupled with the priceless truth contained, what you have left is a gospel masterpiece of epic proportions.  It's amazing how much more willing someone is to hear a presentation of the gospel when there is a beat in the background.  Anyways, enjoy this video.  It's one of the best I've seen.

Should we examine ourselves?

Examining ourselves...What does the bible teach us about this?  I'm wrestling with this topic right now.  To examine or not to examine, that is the question...I'm beginning to think not.  Let me explain.

This quote from Watchman Nee sent me scurrying for my Bible:

We are never told in the Word of God to examine our inward condition.

Immediately my head floods with scriptures that I think contradict his statement.   So I search and find that none of them actually do.  I continue reading and find that the Bible in fact says numerous times that God reveals our hearts to us.  Our hearts are not revealed to us by our turning within.

Psalm 36:9: “In thy light shall we see light”.

“The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple” (psalm 119:130 A.V.).

“The word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.  And there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight:  but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Heb. 4:12,13).

Later Nee writes:

Scripture shows us how the saints were brought to self-knowledge.  It was always by light from God, and that light is God Himself.  Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Peter, Paul, John, all came to a knowledge of themselves because the Lord flashed Himself upon them, and that flash brought revelation and conviction.  (Isa. 6:5; Ezek. 1:28; Dan. 10:8; Luke 22:61, 62; Acts 9:3-5; Rev. 1:17).

These passages show us that it is God who reveals our heart to us and He does so by revealing Himself to us.  We cannot discover this knowledge by turning within and examining ourselves.  Knowledge of self is revealed through a knowledge of God.  Knowledge of God is revealed through His Son Jesus Christ.  In Christ all of our trying, effort, and energies are unnecessary.  It is his work in us that brings about revelation and change of self.  This would include our efforts to examine our own hearts to discover what needs to change and our efforts to change by our own strength.  Christ has done all the work, we are called to walk by faith in his finished work.

 Faith says with Christ "it is finished".

 Self-examination asks:  what is undone?

one last quick clip from Nee:

only a thorough understanding of the Cross can bring us to that place of dependence which the Lord Jesus Himself voluntarily took when He said: “I can of myself do nothing:  as I hear, I judge:  and my judgment is righteous; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 5:30).