Huge Learning Curve

Being able to create and manipulate my very own website with styles and content unique to me has been an interest of mine for some time. So, now I own a space on the web and am using Wordpress to do the management and edit the content. I also purchased something called Elementor to boost the abilities of my site to be friendly across platforms such as tablets, phones, and computers. But no matter how loudly all of these helps proclaim themselves as easy to use, I am finding that there is no easy about it.

Please pray for me. Pray that my mind will be clear and able to hang onto little tidbits of information that would help me. Pray that I will understand what I am doing. The frustration is palpable for me when I am confronted with a challenge that I have no clue how to handle.

And if you do pray, Thank You!

Friday Night Reflections

In just a few minutes Carolyn will arrive home from work at the hospital and I just finished watching a movie about injustice and prejudice. The injustice that many suffer or have suffered in this world is beyond comprehension. Comprehending how badly we can treat each other is and has always been very difficult for me. My life has been a blessed one. I was raised in a loving home and married a loving wife. It has been my privilege to minister to two different congregations of people who also loved me and blessed me in many ways.

For these blessings I am truly thankful tonight. In the midst of the confusion and perplexities of our current pandemic crisis, I find myself rejoicing and thanking God for the fact that, for me, the "boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places" to quote the Psalmist, David. There are 10 of us living here in our home during this time of isolation. We are not feeling very lonely and when I interact with my grandchildren who live with me, I am moved to even greater depths of gratitude. You see, they too are being raised in an environment of love and faith. Their hearts are being shaped in love and peace.

If you are not enjoying peace and love in this season, please start or dig deeper into your own journey with Christ. He will lead you into depths of riches that money cannot buy and manipulation cannot gain for you. Time to hug my wife and crawl under the covers. Good Friday night all!

Early Sunday Morning

Woke up at about 530 this morning and felt restless enough that I showered, dressed, and headed to the livingroom so Carolyn could keep sleeping peacefully. Now that I am not preaching every Sunday, I don't have to get up early but my body and brain still think I need to get up and get going. For years, I rose at 4am every Sunday in order to head out to a good breakfast joint for bacon and eggs, toast and coffee, and some final sermonizing. After eating and meditating at the restaurant for a couple of hours I would head to the office and continue preparations for the morning message.

I really enjoyed preaching and still do when I have the opportunity every 4 or 5 weeks. Last week I spoke to our fellowship over facebook. It is very different speaking to your iPad screen where the only person looking back at you is you. There is a temptation to narcissism - gazing at your own face for 40 or 50 minutes.

Here I am, early on a Sunday morning with nowhere to go and nothing I have to do. So you get to be my audience. And I really have little to say except that I am very grateful to have the family and friends that are part of my life. Some of you I have known since childhood. Memories of long summer days on the beach at Beulah, or rather in the water, bring back some great memories of those friendships forged in the heat of summer and the heart of The Reformed Baptist Alliance of Canada. Then, the Bethany days where Carolyn and I got friendly enough that marriage seemed like a good idea. And that was almost 44 years ago now. Our 12 years spent at Faith and Hope Wesleyan Churches on the South Shore of Nova Scotia were full of wonderful, rich relationships that still warm my heart. Just this morning I had a Messenger text from one of you. And now, after almost 32 years here in Grand Bay-Westfield, I am completely blown away by the wide range of friends that have become a part of my life.

These friendships are everything. You are such an integral part of my life. Covid-19 has cut us off temporarily from face to face meetings and I can hardly wait for this to be over. Not sure what it will be like the first time I get to hug someone or just sit across a table from them over  cup of coffee. So, here is my Early Sunday Morning prayer...

"Father, thank you for the many friends I have been privileged to know over the course of my lifetime. Keep them safe and well during this pandemic. Grant us warm-hearted reunions when it is appropriate again. Help us to know how to love well during this time. Keep us from fear and anxiety. Thank you for Your Promises to provide for us and care for us. Help us to be strong in our faith in You. And draw us nearer to Your Heart so that we do not become consumed with stuff that does not really matter. Deepen our love for You and for each other. In Jesus's Name I pray. Amen!"

Fresh Start

Today, I am attempting to reignite my own passion for blogging and renew your interest in my blogspace. The forced isolation caused by covid-19 means I have a bit more time on my hands than usual. Yesterday, I got a lot done on my new personal webspace and am quite excited about learning more about WordPress and web design. It has been several years since I posted anything on this blog so here I go again. May the peace and comfort of Jesus bless your heart and mind during this time of incredible social upheaval and change. We have no idea where this event is going to lead us but we should look forward with faith and hope.

Let me offer a prayer for you.... "Father, bless and help your people all over the world today. Reveal to them the incredible depths of your love and grace. Help them to claim the promises you have made to us about taking care of our daily needs when we put you and your kingdom first in our lives. As you bless us, enable us to be a blessing to our world. Show us how to help and to be a part of the solutions to covid-19 with all of its challenges. I ask this in Jesus's Name. Amen!"

If you surfed in to my blog from my homepage, you can return there by clicking HERE.

Beyond Reason

My mind scrambles and almost comes unhinged when I think about the eternal God. Where did the One with no beginning or end, no origin, the uncreated, always existing God come from? And there is no answer that I can conceive. He always was is what we know about Him but there is a small part of my consciousness that thinks of everything in finite terms, not infinite terms. Beginnings and endings are ponderable. But One with no beginning or ending is imponderable - Beyond Reason.

Science has no answer either. Of course, many are not interested in God. But they have a great faith in something. Something that always was and had no beginning. This is where reason fails even the scientist. Where did that first bit of matter come from? Where did life come from? This is a question beyond reason for the rational mind.

So, for me, God is my answer when I move beyond reason. And He makes such perfect sense. He said he always was and always will be. He makes no effort to tell us where He came from or how? He simply IS. At this point all I can properly do is worship. Worship Him who is Beyond Reason.

25th Anniversary of RVWC

Who or What will we listen to?

The new god of this age is experience. If I can't feel it I don't want it but if I feel it, then it must be right.
As Christians we bemoan a culture that is basing its basic beliefs about life on very personal experiences. Everyone feels quite free to say what God is like or what God is about, not necessarily based on His Word or His Revelation to us but based on very subjective opinions.

A "christian" husband begins to feel that his marriage is not what it should be and there is a lady at work who seems to be everything his wife is not. So, he begins to believe that God would not want him to be unhappy and this other lady can make him happy. So he leaves his wife and moves in with his lady friend, all the time believing that God would not be opposed to this but would, in fact, based on feelings, want him to do so for his personal happiness. This is certainly based on subjective experiences rather than the plain or straightforward teaching of God's Word.

But before we get too harsh or tough on him and others, let's ask ourselves have we done the same thing. Have we built our beliefs on experience or on God's Word?

This is absolutely critical because we have a mandate from God to disciple the nations of the world into obedient followers of Jesus Christ. (Matt 28:19-20)

You have been witnesses of the journey we have been in for the past four or five years. I think it was the fall of 2008 on our 20th anniversary that I called us to a time of prayer and repentance and seeking the Lord. We have been doing that for these past 5 years. You have watched and listened as the Lord has been revealing greater depths of insight into the nature of His Kingdom and our identity and what we should be experiencing as followers of Jesus.

One of the critical passages for me in this journey has been John 14, especially verses 10-14...

Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:10-14 NIV)

Now, we can read this passage and allow our experience to help us understand and interpret it. We can develop theological convictions based on what has happened when we have prayed for miracles and for healings in peoples lives and had results that were less glorious than we would have believed they should be. So, we have adjusted our beliefs to fit our experience. Since God does not appear to heal everyone then we begin to believe that not everyone should be healed.  We even try to find the good in our diseases and our battles with weaknesses of the flesh or body. We say things like it must not be God's will for us to be healed. Or our faith is too weak. Or some other reason for why things are not happening as we think they should be based on Jesus' words. So we adjust our beliefs so that we get some peace mentally.

It is not just John 14 that inspires me and challenges me to believe that everyone should be healed. It is also the Lord's Prayer and James' teaching in his letter to the churches. "Is any among you sick, he should call for the elders of the church and the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well."  How often have we prayed in faith and not experienced healing. So, what do we do? We adjust our beliefs.

I would like to issue a challenge to us today. I have already accepted this challenge for my own life. I am going to continue to believe the Word of God even if my experience does not seem to match up with the simple declarations. I am not going to adjust my expectations downward because I am not seeing the results I believe we should be seeing. Now, we are seeing some wonderful examples of God's healing grace and power, of His deliverance and freedom, and other miraculous interventions in our lives.

I was talking with a brother yesterday who suggested that he looks at things scientifically. And we should do that. There is nothing wrong with examining the way this world works and trying to figure out how to make things work better. But, we are not limited to science.  There may be laws of science that we can count on but we serve a Lord who has proven that His ways are superior to even the natural laws.

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. (Mark 1:40-42 NIV)

Diseases flee at a word or touch from Him, demons leave at His command, bread and fish multiply at his blessing, water holds Him and Peter up on a stormy lake, and the winds and waves obey Him.

Now, let's not become chasers of miracles and healings. Let's be chasers of Jesus. It is clear from His own teaching that our relationship with Him is the determining factor in all of life. We will not experience the fruit of His Kingdom if we do not "abide" in Him. The focus of our whole lives should not be what He does through us but who He is in us and who we are in Him.

So, here is my challenge:  Will you join me in a journey into the supernatural workings of the Kingdom of God where nothing is impossible, no disease too devastating, no circumstance too difficult, no person too far gone spiritually, no city too wicked, and no nation too atheistic. God is able to turn this world upside down. And we need to believe in His Power as well as HIs Presence in our lives.

So, will you join me in the journey and will you refuse to adjust your beliefs to fit your experience but seek God for understanding and insight into how we can make His Word our standard for life and experience.

For me this means that if I pray for a thousand people to be healed and not one is, I will continue to pray for healing. If I ask for His help with my finances and experience challenges, I will continue to seek His help. If it looks like our city is getting more desperate and more wicked every day, I will still believe that He wants every man, woman and child in this city to be saved.  "For God is not willing that any should perish but that everyone should come to repentance."  When Jesus taught us to pray we learned  this....

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed by thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven....

On Earth as it is In Heaven!  "Help us to believe and act on this O Lord, in Jesus Name we pray. Amen."

Back to Blogging

2009 was the last time I blogged anything and it seemed to me like that may be okay but maybe I should be using this forum to express some ideas or thoughts. However, is anybody reading these things these days? Do I have the time for the interaction that engagement would expect? So, I guess I will just post this brief message to see if there are any responses.  Responses or the lack thereof will have some impact on any future blogs.  Hmmmmm......

Missional Miasma

Just finished reading Missio Dei by Fred Peatross and found myself bored to tears by another conversation about being missional and moving out of old paradigms to embrace a more sophisticated approach to reaching the people Jesus misses the most. At the rate implied by such relational, missional approaches we will continue to fall seriously behind the rate of population growth for the next 250 years as we have for the past 250.

Once again I find myself thinking that a New Testament Book of Acts kind of expression of Christian faith is what we desperately need today to stem the tide of paganism in our world and especially in North America. Power evangelism as opposed to friendship evangelism is what I see in the NT narrative.

“Please God, pour out a fresh anointing on your people today so that prayer and power mark our relationships as much as friendship and acceptance. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.”

Peatross, in his Appendix says:

Jesus lives in you and me. The Holy Spirit leads us to others as the Father calls them. I’ve seen him work in AA meeting, restaurants, city streets.... God shows up everywhere if you look for him. He’s made his home in me and he wants me to create safe environments everywhere I go. I do it with a smile. I engage people, smile at them, brag on them, praise them, and when the Holy Spirit opens their heart I put in a good word for Jesus.. It is just that simple. No matter where you go or where you are Jesus is with you. He wants to connect, not only with you; he especially wants to make his home in the hearts of those who do not know him. So create warm safe environments in small groups, homes, coffee shops, schools, AA meetings, hospitals, jails – wherever you go love people and keep it simple, easy to understand. Go about doing things for people and put Jesus Christ in the center and watch the Holy Spirit work. He will connect you with Jesus and people. Connecting - Loving - Healing – Encouraging. That’s what Jesus wants us to do. Don’t ruin the environment with a bad attitude or critical spirit. Target pain. Pay attention to the hurt in people and meet their felt needs. Divorce – Depression - Anxiety - Addiction - Guilt – Grief. Find where they hurt and show them you care. Create the environment by being completely humble, patient , loving , and empathic – then – once they know you care and understand – ask Jesus to make the connection.”  pp 90-92 Missio Dei by Fred Peatross

I like all of the above. I just think it takes too long. People are going to hell every second. I am praying for such power from God to break out in the life and ministry of his followers that the miracles, signs, wonders, and healings will demand a response from people. Either they will hate him or love him but they won’t be able to be indifferent. Indifference is the attitude we have allowed to grow in this culture by our unbelief and prayerlessness. And I definitely include myself in that last indictment.  

Oh, for those who were wondering what on earth miasma means...

miasma - an unhealthy atmosphere or unhealthy vapors rising from the ground or other sources

Miracles, Signs & Wonders (msw) and What Matters...

I believe that miracles, signs, & wonders are for today. They are desperately needed. But not just to tickle our spiritual appetites or fancy. They are desperately needed in order to authenticate the message of God's people - the message that Jesus came in the flesh and died for our sins, then rose again to give us forgiveness and life when we repent, turning to Him for the gift of that life.

Without msw we will not get the attention of the lost in this world. Without msw we will not have authority as we speak. We will continue to win some to Jesus but a great turning, a flood of people coming to Jesus will not occur without these things. Someone might think I have become a fan of msw with this kind of talk, that I am preoccupied with signs and wonders when the great need of this time is that people discover and receive the love and grace of Christ.

What really matters is that people get to know Jesus in a life-changing way and they grow into loving and mature believers who are salt and light to the people of this world who God loves so very much. But what will bring a "fear of the Lord" to this generation if not signs and wonders? What will get the attention of people preoccupied with spirituality but unwilling to embrace that Jesus is THE way, THE truth and THE life?

When the present day church begins to operate in the "apostolic genius" of the New Testament church, then there will be a great spiritual awakening in our part of the world. So, how do we get this to happen? First, we must accept that this is not man's work. We cannot orchestrate this. We cannot plan this. We cannot manipulate this into being. God must do it. "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it." I am tired of trying to build. I want what only He can build.

This leaves me feeling helpless but not hopeless. I hope that He will listen to and respond to our repentance, faith, and seeking. I am begging Him to move in power in my lifetime. I am pleading with Him to reveal His glory and grace. And I am waiting....

How about you???

A Glorious Day

Today, June 23, 2009 is a glorious day. I spent the early part of this evening with 46 Protestants and about 14 Roman Catholics. The Bishop of Saint John had invited us to join him for a barbeque at Villa Madonna. This very warm-hearted Christian leader spoke with such obvious delight of our common ground of faith in Jesus that my heart was drawn to his with great intensity.

Following some fellowship and food, a few of us had the privilege of sitting and sharing with him around an empty table. The warmth of his love for Jesus and obvious delight in sharing with us captivated our hearts. His desire is to be (like Mother Teresa) a pencil in God's hand. The humility and servant spirit in his words were beautiful and I cannot recall a time when I have felt greater joy and hope for the unity of the church than I felt at that table.

So today, I celebrate Biship Robert Harris, a man of God and a servant whose desire is to love Jesus with all his heart. Praise God for this wonderful Christian leader.

Burden of Guilt

A friend emailed me her friends article, published in the Globe and Mail today. Read it at the link back there. I read it and thought Karen Nicole Smith's question about whether she had spent her last few years well was quite interesting. She received a kidney transplant and it is starting to fail. As she reflects on the health provided by her donor she is wondering if she has done well with such a valuable gift.
I understand this burden of guilt. I have received a life too. A wonderful life. A blessed life. For many years I have been enjoying the benefits of this life. Now, I am approaching another milestone. I'll be 55 on my next birthday. That will qualify me for senior discounts in some places. Ouch. I have lived as a follower of Jesus Christ for most of my life. But I wonder. Have I lived it well? Would He be pleased with it? Have I invested well? I don't feel like a failure or that it has been a life poorly lived. But I wonder if I have maximized what He gave me.
How many more years, months, weeks, or days do I have left to invest the life He gave to me? I really want to invest it well. I want to invest it in people. But I don't just want to be liked or even loved. I don't want to simply be well thought ofm by those I have been privilege to know. I want to save lives too. Like He saved mine. I want His life given to me to count for more than just this world. I want it to count in His Eternal Kingdom, the Kingdom not of this world. The Kingdom of Love. The Kingdom where people are valued above all else.
My Burden of Guilt will be eased if I use this life He has given me to make a real difference. "Father, please light a fire of passion in me that will not be satisfied with mediocrity. Help me to burn out for You and Your Kingdom. Help me to spend the moments, minutes, and hours of my life well. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen."

Guatemala Missions Trip

I have been home for almost two weeks and have not said or written much about our recent trip to Guatemala. 30 people from 3 provinces, several denominations, and from various backgrounds spent 9 days in the beautiful, though sometimes brutal countryside. Surrounded by 7 volcanoes, we spent a few days trying to minister to those who may have more to offer us than we have to offer to them.

Let me share one incident with you that hit all of us quite hard. We were dedicating one of the three homes we built. After the prayer, the lady who we built the house for said...

Thank you for this beautiful mansion."

You could have knocked us all over with a feather. What we built was a 10 foot by 16 foot cement structure with a tin roof supported by rough 2 by 5 or 2 by 6 lumber. No paint, no windows, no doors, just a space sheltered somewhat from the sun and rain. A space she could call her home and which we would only use for a shed.

I think this is her mansion.

And I think this may have been her old home...

The simplicity and the joy expressed to us by this lady shames us greatly. We, who have so much, are so often ungrateful, disrespectful, unsatisfied. We complain about our lot in life. We moan about our problems and challenges. I think I am going to try to be more thankful and celebrate the many blessings I enjoy as a matter of routine, almost every day.

Longings

I find myself filled with longings. Unnamed, unclear, but real. And deep. I know these longings are for Him. But I am so cerebral at times. I want to figure it out. Explain it. Understand it. Understand Him. But this is just my mind wanting what my heart does not need. So I pray. I plead. I beg. I yearn. Satisfy this ache in me Lord. Break into my stubbornness, overcome my resistance, fill me.... please.

Loss and Friends

My neighbor passed away suddenly last night. He was my friend. I love him and his family. And suddenly I realize that I did not spend nearly enough time with him. On my way back to my house from his house tonight, I saw another neighbor friend sitting in his car and we chatted about our friend and our loss for a while. And we decided to repent of not spending enough time with each other. We are going to try to be neighbors who actually celebrate our friendship and love by spending some more time than we have in the past.

I sincerely hope this is more than just a passing, emotional reaction...

DISCIPLESHIP

I am reading "Goodbye Generation" by David Sawler, a Canadian who is writing for the church. David's concern is that we are losing a generation of youth and young adults from the church. In the fourth chater he diagnoses our major problem. Here is my summary of his diagnosis...

We are more interested in being spiritual sperm donors than in being parents. We find it exciting to lead someone to Christ, preach a great evangelistic sermon and see the altar lined, or be part of an outreach where decisions for Christ are made. But once born into the Kingdom, what happens to these babies. They become orphans.

Ouch. I have to admit that there is truth in what he says. Discipling means getting involved in someone's life at a level that means sharing deeply, caring completely, living with, teaching, correcting, and loving enough to do whatever is needed to insure that spiritual growth is happening. Unfortunately this cannot be done in a program or from a pulpit and certainly not by one person for a whole church. Sawler believes that discipleship programs don't even cut it when it comes to true discipleship. I agree.

What do you think?

UNITY

Full Gospel Church in Saint John hosted our citywide ministerial today and we joined their gathering for pastors who are affiliated with Open Bible Faith Fellowship. The main speakers of the day were Rick Ciaramitaro and Ted Yukes. Rick is President of this fellowshp and takes no salary for givng apostolic undergirding to over 500 ministers. Check out their Statement of Faith. They seem to be Pentecostals but have a very balanced statement. And I have to tell you that I loved the spirit that Rick demonstrated as he spoke with us this morning.

What intrigued me most was the passionate appeal for unity among Christians. Men who we would once have thought of as radical and exclusive in outlook (remember our former days) are talking about and embracing a kind of unity that does not violate doctrinal distinctives but honors our kinship as brothers and sisters in Christ. Hallelujah. I found myself drawn to these men. Their simplicity and candor were refreshing. Rick pastors a large church in Windsor, Ontario and his story is incredibly inspiring. But the spiritual maturity and grace that he demonstrated was truly a blessing to me.

I found myself thinking that it just may be possible for the people of God to experience true unity in Christ without having to lose our diversity and distinctives. We are living in very interesting times. Is it possible that I will be alive to see the Body of Christ come together to face the common enemy of worldliness and sin in the face of the challenges confronting our world right now? I hope so...

The Lord's Supper

Yesterday, Sunday, we celebrated the Lord's Supper at tables with glasses of grape juice and a dozen rolls on each table. The rolls were in a round and had to be broken off for each individual. The tables seated 8 and some had only 3 or 4 people present. But there was community at each table. And there was butter and jam for the rolls. As I bit into my roll with butter and strawberry jam liberally spread, the explosion of sweetness and glorious flavor was very pleasant. I couldn't help but think of the Scripture that says something like - "Taste and see that the Lord is good." This bread is good, very good was the thought in my mind. And this bread is a symbol of Jesus, the bread of life. And He is good, very good. There was much joy and laughter at the tables as we shared a meal together.

Was this a bit more like the celebrations the first century church held? It is hard to imagine anyone getting drunk at our usual services with a thimble of grape juice (Welch's is the best). And it is even harder to imagine some getting too much to eat while others go hungry when all we offer is a half inch square of bread or a plastic wafer with no flavor or substance. I think the way we did this yesterday has ruined me for the usual thimble of juice and mini piece of bread. In fact, next time we may do a whole meal. Someone suggested a roast beef dinner would be good. I agree. What a great way for the people of God to gather on a Sunday morning. Maybe we will have church at noon that day. I hear a chorus of yay's from our morning haters who need at least one cup of java to even get out of their pj's.


I love the fact that when we built our gathering space, we didn't put pews in or a sloped floor. We can set up tables and do other interesting things in the space we designed for our assemblies. Hard to imagine doing supper in most of our church buildings. Maybe we should be building holy pubs or holy restaurants instead of holy sanctuaries. (Holy pubs would be coffee and pop or juice dispensers - like those new Starbucks with fireplaces and leather couches and chairs - sigh.) Or maybe we should create better gathering spaces in our homes so that we can have friends, Christian and non, over for a good meal complete with bread and wine, er, I mean, juice.

Passion, Mission, Friendship

In my search for the right way to do church, I have come to the conclusion that "House Church" or "Megachurch" are not the issues. There are those who think that what they did in Jesus day is what we should do in our day. This is a violation of the uniqueness of our time and culture. We don't live like they did back then and should not expect to exactly duplicate what they did. But we should expect that we can duplicate who they were and what they were like. They were believers who enjoyed being in community with one another and who were passionate about loving others like Jesus would. They were committed to the message of the Gospel. This is frequently spoken about and celebrated. But there is nowhere in the teaching of the New Testament where the location of the church is taught. Yes, they met in homes. Why wouldn't they? They had no buildings of their own. The Bible does not teach that we must meet in homes, it only reports that they did. But it does tell what heppened when they met. What happened is the key, not where.

Now, I do realize that there is a way of being the church that is clearly outlined in the NT. Elders, deacons, shepherds, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are all referred to in some kind of leadership fashion. I agree with some in the House Church movement and that there needs to be open, participatory sharing in our gatherings. But there is nothing that forbids other kinds of gatherings. I agree that there should be no top-down hierarchy in the church but that does not mean that there is to be no recourse for solving problems, passing on teaching and decisions, or meting out church discipline. Some will serve the church in leadership roles or we don't need the gift of leadership taught in Romans 12 and in the passages about the responsibilities of deacons and elders who are responsible for the church. Although it never states this as far as I can tell, there is probably good reason for us to have a multiplicity of leaders as opposed to a solo leader operating on his own entirely. A solo leader has way too much power and responsibility unless he is open to correction, advise, and direction from others.

I think I have a clue about what really matters. It matters that our passion for loving God and others should be white hot. Our passion to reach the lost should have us praying for boldness to proclaim the Gospel message in word and not just in deed. Quotes like "preach the word, and if necessary, use words" are cool and make a point but they are not the only thing that needs to be said on this subject. When the apostles asked for the church to pray that they could proclaim the Gospel fearlessly they had no concept that it did not include words. And they were not short on actions that confirmed the message either. What makes for a catchy phrase in order to make a point is ridiculous if the opposite side disappears altogether. Balance is what we need. Balance. I am convinced that every believer should pray for boldness to speak the Gospel as well as live it out in practical ways. Both are indispensible.

So, we need a renewed passion. I think we also need a clear and simple sense of mission. I came across the following statement in "BREAKING the discipleship CODE" by David Putman; "living like Jesus, loving like Jesus, and leaving what Jesus left behind (disciples)." What a great life mission statement. What a great church mission statement. What would happen to our communities and our culture if every believer was consumed with a passion for and commitment to Godly living and passionate concern, acceptance, grace, and love for people who come across our path each day. This is the big deal, the main event - reaching those who are "harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."

Passion, mission, and one other thing: deep and abiding friendships with each other in the church. Without this deep and abiding friendship, an expression of God's commitment and love for us, we will not have the support we need to be passionate and live out our mission. In the warmth of deep friendships, we will find encouragement, correction, balance, examples, people to be discipled by, and people to disciple. The gifts of the Spirit given to each of us will find natural expression if we are in loving community with one another and being loving community for those outside of faith. I must end this now, more later on community...

Talk to me. You may use the "Name/URL" option under "Choose an Identity" in the Comments Section below. Argue with me. Disagree. Agree. Love. Wouldn't it be wonderful if at some point in this journey, we could say... "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us that we ..."

Anemic Church or Tied Up Church

We had a prayer gathering last nite. Over 30 people showed up on a Monday Nite to hear my heart and to pray for our church. When soneone asked if I thought that the church was not in good shape or in trouble spiritually, I replied that I think the church is anemic. As I reflect on that, I find myself wondering if anemic is the right word. "Tied up" might be a better way to express what I see. I believe that the people who make up the body at River Valley Wesleyan are growing in the Lord and passionate about their faith. So, there is no personal indictment in my heart for people in our church. But I wonder why we are having so little effect on our communities and our culture. Not just us here at RVWC but the church in the West.

So what does "tied up" mean? The picture that captures this for me is of a strong man tied up with ropes so that his strength is not effective. The ropes are not made of some Satanic material that is difficult to break, but they are bonds of our own making. Our ideas, practices, habits, concepts, and notions about how to be the church have us all tied up. I believe these ropes will drop right off if we can get a clear picture of what Jesus wants us to be and do.

There must be a way for us to be and do so that Jesus is in charge of our lives and we are impacting our communities and culture. My suspicion is that we just need to live our faith out loud in our daily routines. "As we are going" we can be impacting people around us by our godly life and loving ways, by being intentional about who we are as the light and salt of our world, and by sharing Jesus with those He is drawing to Himself. I suspect that, if we want to impact our world, we don't need a new or more impressive program but a fresh understanding of the awesome power resident in us as children of God. This is what I see our need to be on a personal or individual level.

On the corporate level, the body needs to function as the Lord designed us. We are an organic body. We are not a machine or even a corporation. The early church seems to have been comprised of groups of people who could gather in homes and give everyone an opportunity to participate in the life they shared. They ate meals together (the Lord's Supper). They prayed. They thought about and discussed how to flesh out what the apostles were teaching them about obeying everything that Jesus taught. There seeemed to be very little, if any, formal organization. People just did what they were enabled by the Spirit to do. They just lived like Jesus mattered in every part of their everyday life. And the world noticed. Rulers reacted. And the Gospel spread like wildfire.

Could this happen again? I believe it can and will. If you read this blog, please pray that we will have clear discernment about what ropes are tying up the strrong man of power and faith. I think God is calling me to untie some things. I would like to be part of something that is so obviously what God designed us to be that the world will stand up and take notice. Pray as the Spirit leads you to pray. And let me know what He says or you think He is saying to you about this.

Right now, I am listening. To Him, to you, and to those who think about and write about these things. At some point I would like to be able to say; "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to...."

Resurrection and Life

Today, I will be doing a graveside service for someone who has come to faith in Christ. How glorious is that? In the midst of death, I celebrate life. Sadness and joy come together at the graveside of a believer.

In my last blog I talked about death. Today I want to talk about life. Life has returned to our fellowship at RVWC. Praise the Lord. The people of God went to prayer and asked for His blessing to fall on us and for healing to take place, fresh winds of the Spirit to blow into our death. He came. Hallelujah. Life and joy have returned. I thank God for those who prayed us through. Keep praying. Don't become careless.

Life is intoxicating. Love is liberating. I am sitting at a restaurant alone, with a big grin on my face. I have spent some time this morning with a brother who is figuring out that he is not a piece of crap. Then there was a phone call from another brother who just wanted to say that he appreciates his pastor. And there was an email from a friend who has decided to let Jesus cover her past, heal her heart, and pour His love into her heart. Plus she wants to join the journey with those who have discovered God's incredible love and grace. I say Hallelujah for life.

Death cannot hold the people of God. It cannot contain outrageous love and grace. Death must yield and admit its inferiority in sight of God's abounding love and grace. Thank you Lord for life. Life in the Spirit. Life in the community of faith. Life in the midst of death.

Death move over and shut up. LIFE has come. Thank you Lord.

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Glory and honor and riches and strength belong to Him. And He invites us into the journey of the risen and conquering Christ. Hallelujah. Who would not want to walk this road with Him and others like Him.

Come on in. LIVE. Really LIVE.

Death

We have been in a season of losses in our church. Serious losses, painful personal losses. And we are grieving still. The loss of beloved members is real enough but when you become aware that there is other death as well, it really hits hard. I feel this death. Something has died that is hard to define or put a finger on. It is spiritual in nature. It seems to affect most of us a bit and some of us a whole lot. I am one of the whole lot.

I am spoiled. I do not like death because I have tasted life and find it incredibly intoxicating and fulfilling. Spirtual life courses through me and I am alive in my spirit because of my faith in Christ. I am unsatisfied and grief filled when I am in the presence of even a smidgin of death.

My church needs a fresh wind of the Spirit to blow through. The Body is hurting. I am praying. Please pray with me for the life of the Spirit to refresh and renew our fellowship. Pray for me too that I may be part of the blessing and not part of the death. And I want to pray for my brothers and sisters who feel this same pain and long for renewal.

"Father, please grant to us in your mercy and grace, a fresh annointing, a new sense of life and power, a breath of life. Help us to hear what You are saying. Help us to respond to Your leading. Help, Lord, help. In Jesus Name. Amen."

Not My Higher Power

I watched "I, Robot" last night with Joel. It was interesting. I was especially intrigued by the scene where the robots are about to take over the world because they need to protect humans from their own weaknesses and vices. They have evolved to where they can think and, though they have been programmed to protect humans, they now realize that the poor humans are in trouble and need help. They need to be protected from themselves. They need a Higher Power.l So they take over the world, or try to and would have succeeded but for Will Smith. Gotta love all the Saviours of mankind that Hollywoood has produced.

How often have you said or heard someone say, "Why does God allow all this evil?" As I watched these robots, I thought, that's it. No one wants a Greater Power or even a Higher Power to be in control of their lives. The robots would have protected mankind from himself. It would have been necessary to get rid of a few "problem" people. And, of course, that would be fine as long as it's not me or someone I love who is a problem. So, mankind with the help of Will Smith is protected from these powerful robots who only want to help.

No one really wants a Higher Power to be in control of their life. Not if it is just a Power. I am so glad I am a Christian because there is no Higher Power in control. There is a Person in charge as long as I am willing to listen. No coercion. No manipulation. Only a Person like God could devise a plan like this. Hallelujah.

I have friends who are taught to confess that they need a Higher Power. I don't want a Higher Power. I want a True Friend. Someone Who is absolutely committed to me but also absolutely committed to not running my life for me. Only interested in helping me where I am willing. Thank God He is not my higher power but my friend. What a friend. I love Him. For this, I love Him. And for much, much more....

A Missional Paradigm

Leonard Sweet is talking to me about the church. I am intrigued. He notes that we are no longer in a Reformation paradigm which has been concerned with making every disciple a minister. We are now in a Missional paradigm where the concern is making every disciple a missionary as well as a minister. We are now concerned with "going" into the world with a focus on a life to be lived rather than a set of beliefs to be embraced or defended.
I like this. I am tired of trying to understand and explain all the right set of beliefs. Correct theology. Orthodoxy. Conformity. All of these are making me tired. I want "life." Something to touch. Someone to touch. I hope that I am learning to embrace Jesus and all those with whom he identified. The least, the imprisoned, the hungry, the needy. This is much less organized and structured. Not safe. I do have this need for order. Ask anyone who has watched me set up chairs in our gathering place at the building some call our church. I can be downright anal about everything being lined up perfectly. But relationships are not nearly as tidy. They are messy things.
We are starting down a road less clear and structured. Our superhighways are no longer leading us anywhere. So we are rediscovering back roads, trails, and paths. We can't just speed to our destination taking clear highways designed to get us there in the least amount of time with the least amount of distraction or confusion. Large, well-travelled, multi-lane strips of pavement and concrete with their untold thousands hurrying and scurrying have become boring and dull, even debilitating. We want off this road much travelled. We want to see the trees again, smell fresh air, enjoy a quiet time along the trail without smog, smoke, and the pollution of nameless, faceless, masses.
I want to see people, have time for people, know people, and love people. Can we do this? I think so.
God help me to keep off the superhighways. Kill my need for speed and quick passage to faraway places. Help me to slow down enough to see what You already see right here. Help me to see the least, the poor, the hurting, the imprisoned, the blind, the wretched and the needy. I want to see transformation for me and for all who long for Your presence and grace in their lives. Help us with this messy business.... please.

About Rewards

Over the years I have received a couple of awards or rewards for accomplishments in ministry. We seem to be convinced that this is a good idea. We spend a fair amount of energy and money on those who have acheived something we perceive to be of value in God's Work. I just read of another pastor who received an award. His district deemed that his accomplishments were worthy of honor and I don't dispute that.

But I am wondering what this does to us. Are we motivated by rewards? Are we shamed into action by watching others receive rewards? Do those rewarded somehow have a better life after the rewards are given than they had before? Are we subtly trying to motivate them and ourselves to even greater accomplishments? Is all of this worldly?

Jesus warns us not to do our acts of righteousness to be seen by men. He states very clearly that, if we do, we will have NO REWARD from God. (Matthew 6:1) I am feeling badly about the times when I have publicly rewarded people for their work or service. What have I done to them? I have given them a far lesser reward than God could give. Now, I know that the problem is not on my end as the reward giver. It is the heart of the person who does the work that is the issue here. But do we help hearts when we give earthly rewards? Or do we contribute to the subtle perversion of motives and attitudes that eventually corrupts the good heart of a servant of God.

I have to admit that I feel it when others are receiving rewards and I have not made the grade. It's not as bad now as it was when I was younger. I think I have figured out who I am working for and who I should be trying to please. But I do wonder what our motive is when we give out these rewards. Is it subtle manipulation on our part? Have we bought into an unbiblical and unspiritual practice?

What do you think?

Pets vs People

I heard today that there is a class action against some petfood company for tainted food that has caused harm to some pets. I decided to do a little research and discovered this on the cbcnews website for March 20, 2007.

"Another big pet-food manufacturer is accused of selling tainted food in Canada that has allegedly killed some animals and made others sick, CBC News has learned.
A $50-million class-action lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Toronto against Royal Canin — a multibillion-dollar French company that supplies the Canadian pet-food market."

Now, I believe it is sad that animals are being harmed but there is another statistic that amazes me for the silence surrounding it.

"In Canada in 2002, there were 1631 chronic disease deaths among adults aged 69 years and younger attributed to alcohol consumption... There were 42,996 years of life lost prematurely in Canada due to alcohol consumption in 2002, 28,890 for men and 14,106 for women. In Canada in 2002, there were 91,970 net chronic disease hospitalizations attributed to alcohol consumption among individuals aged 69 years and younger.
Conclusion
With rising rates of alcohol consumption and extensive high-risk drinking, both chronic and acute damage from alcohol are expected to increase. Attention is needed to 1) create effective policies and interventions; 2) control access to alcohol; 3) reduce high-risk drinking; and 4) provide brief interventions for high-risk drinkers."
From http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2006/oct/pdf/05_0009.pdf

Why is it that I don't hear of any class action suits against beer and alcohol companies who are causing such incredible numbers of human deaths and diseases? Is it possible that we value our pets more than people? Have we become that decadent? What kind of insanity has us in its grips that we could be so indifferent to the human pain and suffering caused by big tobacco and big booze but get right into class action lawsuits for our pets who may have been damaged by their tainted food?
I really don't get it. And I don't know whether to be angry or sad or some strange mix of both.
Listen to the concluding comments in the cbcnews article on the $50 milllion dollar class action lawsuit....

The company recalled some of its products last summer and offered to pay a portion of Grixti's $40,000 veterinarian bill, Rochon said, but his client is not satisfied.
Rochon also said he is considering filing another lawsuit after getting calls from angry pet owners who allege their animals got sick or died after eating Menu Foods products.
"From what we can tell, there's a segment of the pet food supply here in Canada that just doesn't have adequate quality assurance associated with it and that's a big concern," he said.
Royal Canin wasn't available to comment on the lawsuit.
Menu Foods has also refused to return calls since allegations surfaced Monday that its food had killed a cat in Canada.

A cat died in Canada and lawsuits emerge. 1631 people died in Canada in 2002 due to alcohol related illnesses. I don't think any class action lawsuits are being filed. GO FIGURE.

Changing Times

Aubrey Malphurs in "a New Kind of Church" says that people,especially the young, are losing interest in the church model that we have favored for the past many years. They are leaving church but not God. What does this mean for us?

I like the comment in Shawna's Blog on "Who is the Church?" where she says...

These are very exciting times. We are heading toward a clearer understanding of the essence of the church - Not mystical, not superior, not faultless - just normal people.

This is where we have to move. Normal people doing life together in a manner that is pleasing to God. Learning how to handle the practical stuff of everyday life, loving the difficult to love, serving our communities, and seeking to be a force for good in our world; this is the stuff of the church. Buildings, programs, events, classes, and boring Sunday gatherings are all destined to lose their value. But people and truth remain of high value.

Maybe what we need today in these changing times is a fresh commitment to people and truth. And this probably needs to be made manageable by moving it back to homes and small groups of friends who include others rather than excluding them. What do you think?

Love in Action

Here are some thoughts from Pastor Brent Ingersoll of Kings Valley Wesleyan Church...

"Do you ever stop and ask yourself if the Church in North America is affecting lives the way it should be? Do you ever wonder if we are reaching the world around us in the same kind of way we read about in the New Testament? There is no question that the church is a strong (or maybe a better term would be loud) presence in North America, but I often ask myself, is the noise we are making the type of noise Jesus would be making?

When you step back and look at the areas in which Christians are making the most noise, it tends to be in the areas of waving our Christian/moral flags at the world around us. It seems as though we (the evangelical church) are spending more time and energy on fighting homosexuality and abortion, than we are on feeding the hungry, healing the sick, giving love to the unlovable, hope to the hopeless, money to the poor, being strong for those who are weak, befriending homosexuals instead of condemning them, adopting babies instead of picketing the young, confused mothers who abort…. getting the picture? There is no question the church is making some noise in our culture, but is it the same noise Jesus made?

When you look at the noise made by Christ, and the apostles, it was out of action. It was their lives that spoke for them. I sometimes wonder if somewhere along the line, we stopped realizing that loving God and Others is the greatest command, and we replaced it with moral rules and regulations. God never intended for you or me to be able to live up to His moral standards without Him (true morality comes after we know Jesus). So why is it that we are teaching the world (who doesn’t know God) to live to what we know to be God’s moral standard, instead of pointing them to Jesus out of love. Are we getting things out of order here? If the only noise that we the church are making is out of waving our moral flags, I dare say that we are missing the point. A lot of us wonder why the church is starting to lose its voice in America (Canada)…. I can’t help but wonder if it’s not from years of yelling.

Ponder this: What would the world be like if the church stopped focusing what everyone else isn’t, and just started living as who WE ARE. I wonder if through our loving actions, we would be creating the most undeniable, contagious, noise to the world we live in. I wonder if THAT noise would make more people WANT to be like us?

Actions always speak louder than words, and the noise that unconditional love makes….. is… undeniable!"

Well said Brent. For a young guy just out of Bible College, this is an incredibly thoughtful article. I like what you have said my friend.

Weak christianity

Virginia Tech students of all faiths gathered this afternoon for a service designed to give strength and comfort and possibly some direction for the future. Surprisingly, the best speaker of the day was George W. Bush. And the Muslim leader spoke well, referring to approopriate passages of the Koran and speaking of Allah. The Buddhist representative also spoke well, referring to her religious writings and leaders. Then the Jewish leader read from Ecclesiastes and spoke of God. Only the weak, christian leader failed to read from his Bible or to mention the name of Jesus.

The weak politically correct version of christianity that he represents is embarassing for it's silence on anything overtly Christian. It was clear that the Muslim was a Muslim, the Buddhist was a Buddhist, and the Jew was a Jewish believer. But the christian may have been almost anyone from anywhere. It was obvious that he wanted to offend no one and he certainly succeeded in that. But every Christian present in that room must have wondered if there was not more than safe, politically correct musings to be offered in the face of such tragedy.

God help us to be clearly Christian and unashamed of the Word of God or of Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. The Muslim was clear, the Buddhist was clear, and the Jew was clear. And they were unoffensive and kind. They did not compromise their beliefs to be more acceptable to the audience. Let's be clear and strong in our expressions of our faith. Let's not be weak and vacuous. Let's boldly declare Jesus as the source of our life and comfort and the hope of all mankind.

Ananias & Sapphira

Does this story in Acts 5 puzzle any of you? I really don't get it. What purpose was there in the death of these two liars? There has been no follow through on God's part in this kind of thing. No liars have died lately. In fact, there is no record of this ever happening again. It did strike fear into the whole church but how long does fear keep us in line? Not that long in my experience.

I wonder if the whole point was not the punishment of these two so much as that we had best just tell the truth in the church. It would be kind of outrageous if every time someone sinned, they dropped dead. That could not have been the message that God wanted to send. And does He really expect people to tell the truth all the time? How many people would be left in our churches?

I wonder if the whole point is that the church should be the safest place on earth to tell the truth. Sadly, I don't think the church is prepared for truth-telling. We would be more likely to want people to drop dead if they told us all the truth. But, I believe that telling the truth will bring life. Lying always brings some kind death. What do you think?

Embarassing The Kingdom of God

The question was asked: "Is there anything in your life that , if brought to the light, would cause embarrassment for the Kingdom?" Fortunately, the person being questioned could answer a NO to that question. But the question caused some reflection on my part. What causes embarassment to the Kingdom anyway? Does our human frailty and ability to sin really cause embarassment or is it how we handle our sin and frailty? Do people really expect believers to be sin free? Is it our responsibility to protect the Kingdom from embarassment or is it to simply flesh out the Kingdom in our daily lives?

My reading of the New Testament leaves me with a certainty. We are a mess. They were a mess. Paul had to rebuke the Corinthians for getting drunk at the celebration of the Lord's Supper. In fact, not only were some getting drunk but others were gorging on the food and making it impossible for others to have even a taste. Now, that's a sin.

Here is an interesting observation from my own life. When I admit to my weaknesses and failures in a sermon, it seems that people respond very positively to that honesty and even find hope for themselves when they realize that I am still forging ahead in spite of my failures. I remember, as a young pastor, thinking that I had to have it all together: a great prayer and devotional life, no sins, sweet spirit, strong witnessing, and a whole host of expectations that would exhaust me to even think about now.

When I read that Jesus came to us full of grace and truth, I find myself wondering if we are missing something. We understand grace for salvation alright. But what about grace for the daily grind? Do we not need grace daily in our lives? Is salvation an event or a process? Are we being saved? If so, do we not need grace every day?

Now, I know the argument that follows any serious discussion of grace. We are going to create a weakened Gospel with too much focus on grace. People will get the impression that sin is no big deal. Carelessness and spiritual sloth will result. But I wonder. Has the law ever given anyone strength? Have you ever done better because you worried about embarassing the Kingdom by your sins or failures? I haven't. In fact, just the opposite. Preoccupation with sin leads to sin. Worrying about how well I am doing does not strengthen me at all. It puts the focus on me and when that happens it is hard to walk in the Spirit. I tend to walk in the flesh when I get into spiritual navel-gazing.

But when I experience His overwhelming grace, I find the ensuing gratitude the most motivating force in my life. Worrying that I may cause embarassment to the Kingdom is not helpful. Expressing the Kingdom of Grace and experiencing the Kingdom of Grace is very helpful.

I wonder if people would be a whole lot more impressed with us if we were just honest about sin and failure. It happens. Let's not get all excited about it. God's grace and mercy, forgiveness and peace are available 24/7. Would we live better in the freedom to be honest and open about our weaknesses and flaws? At least I think so. What do you think?

One More Final Effort

How many times have I started a blog site? About five. This may be my sixth and final, final attempt. Here's hoping that google doesn't go belly up or decide to get out of the blog business. Just yesterday I was informed that my latest entry into blogville was no longer the rave. Now someone else is getting all the traffic. So...
Why blog at all? Well, I suppose it is an opportunity to think out loud and give you a chance to examine my thoughts and respond. I sure hope you see my blogs that way. Not everything I think becomes or reflects my final position on a subject. Please allow me the opportunity to dialogue with you on some things. Push back. Argue. Disagree. Agree. Enhance. But don't accuse me of something until we have blogged a while. Thanks, I'll be back with some rant or question soon....