No Jesus Flavoring

(inspired by this talk http://theresurgence.com/2012/03/11/why-jesus-creates-art)

If you want to do great work for God, you need to get one thing right. You cannot bring Jesus into your passion, work, or craft. Jesus must be your passion, he will then unleash you to do what you love for him. It is so easy try and “Jesify” what we do, but that is just sacrifice…the fundamental characteristic of religion. If you’ve read anything on this site or others like it, you should know by now that that’s a bad thing. Jesus wants you to love him in response to his love and then, then go out and do your work for him (Worship) and others (Mission) rather than yourself. Humble yourself and pursue him first, and then stand amazed  as your talents are used by him to do awesome things.

Ignorant Hope

If, according to Peter, we are to be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, does that not imply that people will find our hope different. So often I feel that the message of Christ is not needed by the people around me because they are happy. They feel hopeful about life and they will tell you so.

But the problem is; you don’t have to feel hopeless to be hopeless. Hopelessness is not purely an emotion, it is a state of being. Every human being is set on a path towards eternal separation from God. That is what hell is, life without God. That is the definition of hopelessness. Whether or not you feel hopeless about it is irrelevant because your going to die regardless of your feelings. The only way that one can change that original path is by putting ALL of their hope in Christ, he is the only one who can save us from death.

So if you are a Christian seeking to reach out to people, don’t assume that because your friends feel hopeful, they won’t listen to what you have to say about Christ. You need to disrupt their framework for hope. Ask them what their hope is in. Get to the root of their hope.

If you are not a Christian, do you see that no matter how you feel about life now, in the end, you have nothing to be hopeful about. It doesn’t really matter how much fun you had for 70 years if you spend eternity after separate from the one who is the definition of good. Do you have reason for hope, or do you just push that question away into the silent parts of your mind?

Lets be people who have true hope (whether we feel like it or not) and then lets share that hope with those who still do not have it!

Own Your Church

Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.

(Acts 6:3 ESV)

In the early Church, the elders discovered in a rather practical way (prior to mandated Pauline instruction in ) that the teachers and elders of the church could not serve all the needs of the people whom God had entrusted to them. They were physically, emotionally, and spiritually incapable of taking care of all of the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the members of the church. They made an announcement, sans simulcast, and chose men who were of good repute and full of the Spirit and wisdom to administrate services of the church that did not directly pertain to the teaching of the word. This is obviously a descriptive passage. I think its meant to also describe us. The church still needs servants of good repute, full of the Spirit, and full of wisdom who desire to serve their spiritual bodies.

First, are we attaining to these qualities? Are you letting the Spirit shape our character through the Word of God and prayer. Then, are you seeking wisdom through the Proverbs first and redeemed advice from the minds of men and women whom you respect (these don’t necessarily need to be Christian minds). 

Second, as we examine our lives ( that is, if you do examine your life), are we attaining  to positions of responsibility and service in our churches? We need to seek and own the needs and opportunities of our churches. Without willing and able servants, our churches will fail in vital ways.

Do you own your church with a determination to make it a better place for the Glory of God and the salvation of souls? Is it your goal to find a place of need and fulfill it in the Spirit?

20 Things I Learned from King’s Cross

Tim Keller’s latest book, King’s Cross, is an examination of the Gospel of Mark. Keller’s rich academic and theological background provides him with some fascinating and unique insights into the gospel derived from Simon Peter’s experiences with our risen savior Jesus Christ.

1. Jesus cleansed the temple ( in part) because the Pharisee’s had overtaken the part of the temple reserved for gentiles. This is Jesus demonstrating that the temple is for all people.

2. The first person to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God was a hardened, callous, and Roman centurion.

3. The Syrophoenician woman understands Jesus’s parable and he is stunned. Her faith allows her to see. The disciples never even got the parables and this gentile (dog) and woman is able to hold a conversation with Jesus IN PARABLE because of her faith.

4.  There is a beautiful and prophetic parallel between spirit of God fluttering over the waters like a dove at creation and the way that the dove from heaven fluttered over on the Son of God

5. News vs Advice. The Gospel is news.

6. When Jesus told the paralytic that his sins were forgiven, he was saying I am the son of God who has been sinned against and he was making the down payment on our forgiveness. At that point, there was no turning back. Jesus had to follow through.

7.  Jesus is the ultimate Sabbath. That is why he scoffed at the Pharisee’s rules for the Sabbath.

8. Jesus speaks from his own authority, not the authority of others or even the the Father’s.

9. The disciples were more terrified after the storm was calmed than when it was about to kill them. Jesus is powerful.

10. Jonah’s story points to Jesus. Jesus went voluntarily.

11. Jesus allowed himself to be slowed down by a woman with a chronic illness on his way to jairus’ daughter. Time is in his control.

12. The cross shows that the world’s systems are messed up. This should scare us (they executed the most righteous man to ever live). But if you can access Jesus, death has lost it’s power so we don’t have to live a life of fear.

13. Christianity is the only religion whose geographical center moves. It follows belief. It migrates away from power and wealth towards physical and spiritual poverty.

14. Jesus is the only founder of a religion whose personal purpose was to die as a sacrifice.

15. Jesus was the judge of the world being judged by the world.

16. Jesus departs from the tradition scripted saying at the Passover to say, “this is my body…this is my blood”

17. Jesus is the main course of the final Passover, that’s why there is no lamb.

18. Judas and his gang came with swords and clubs because they misunderstood Jesus’s revolution as a political one. Peter (with his sword) did as well.

19. When we stop trying to win through the sword and start trying to win it by self-less love we’re finally bringing the kingdom of God to earth.

20. The resurrection was God stamping PAID IN FULL across history so that nobody could miss it.

The Resurrection in Acts

Acts 1:22

Acts 4:2

Acts 4:33

Acts 17:18

Acts 23:6

Acts 24:21

What do all these verses have in common? They all are verses from acts that record ways that the apostles related to the resurrection in their missionary work. Here is a list of a few things that happened when the apostles started talking about the resurrection.

• the Sadducees became greatly annoyed
• people were astonished or surprised
• some people mocked, others were saved
• the apostles grew in their boldness, power and grace

Interestingly, the death or crucifixion of Christ is never mentioned in these situations. Always the resurrection. That does not mean the cross is not important, but it does show us what the apostles believed to be empowering in situations that required the holy spirit. The death of Christ paid our punishment, the resurrection gave us eternal victory.

I believe that when we truly understand the magnitude of the resurrection like the apostles did, we too will have boldness to say and do things that challenge the beliefs and expectations of others. And like the apostles, we can have confidence in the power of the gospel to change others hearts.

So learn to love the resurrection, it’s apologetic, its meaning, and  its place in the hearts of great spiritual leaders. It is the great empowering action Jesus Christ. If death is defeated, what is there that we, in Christ, cannot defeat?

Lyric Look-In :: Day of Fire’s Rain Song

(I suggest listening to the song while reading rather than watching the video for aesthetic reasons)

Bring rivers in this waste land,

Clouds into this sky
Bring springs of life into the wells that
Have been run dry

Rise up in this city
Gather in this light
Fall down on your people,
Your glory and your life

Rain, Lord we thirst for water
Rain, we are desert land
Rain, on your sons and daughters
Rain, bring your rain again

Speak dreams into this water
And vision to this land
That oceans be divided
And bring forth life again

Rise up on this city
Gather in this light
Fall down on your people
Your glory and your life

Let the tide roll in
Washing over our lives
Let your water fall again

Bring rivers in this waste land
And clouds into this sky

Bring your rain again
Let your water fall down
Bring your rain again now

I feel like this song speaks to two spiritual needs. The need of a city lacking gospel presence and the need of the tired and dried up Christian.

Does your city feel weary?

Think of it like your own soul. It needs the Lord to break in with the holy spirit (through people like you) and pour his rain (the gospel) out in fountains. Pray for this! Pray, pray, pray…and pray even more because God makes the rain, not us. Every need is a prayer. Every soul is a prayer. Every crime is a prayer. Every addiction is a prayer. A prayer waiting to be prayed by one of us who has already tasted of the God’s rain.

So you’ve been doing that. You’ve been praying, serving, stretching…do you feel weary? Have you poured your life out for people and for ministries and ultimately for Christ?

If you pour your life out for the world in the way that Christ calls us too, you should feel weary. We should feel a longing for eternal rest. But of course, our mission doesn’t end until Christ’s calls us, or returns. So then what? Do we trudge onward in our own strength, carrying the weight of the world on our own shoulders?

No, we must cry out to God with prayers like the one in this song. Bring rain (refreshment, rescue, new life) to our desert (stale, lifeless) souls. I am always pushing myself and others to greater service for Christ, but so often I forget how all strength and life comes from the gospel. Remember to call on God for the power and energy to carry out his work.

This song reminds that the power to persevere in service and pressure and discouragement comes through Christ pouring out his love on us. It is like when we first experienced the gift of the gospel, except now we need it for revitalization. The gospel saves us, and then it reminds and renews us as we press onward toward the prize of heaven.

The Church > You

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

(Acts 4:32 ESV)

There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

(Acts 4:34-35 ESV)

One heart and soul. Everything in common. Not a needy person among them.

Does this describe your understanding of and attraction to the local church? When you are at your church, do you feel “oneness” with the people around you? Are you so involved with their lives that it could be said that your are of the same heart and that you hold everything in common?

When we do not feel that we know the church in this way, why are we content to put the blame on the church itself or ignore the necessity of such closeness? Condemnation and ignorance are not right responses to the church as the Bible defines and describes it. If we call ourselves Christians, we have a calling to be in a church, serving the other members.

To be abrasive, we are not called above all else to serve campus ministries. We are not called  to have fellowship with those who we easily love and connect with because of similarity and mutual interest. We are called to love and serve (even die for) the church. That diverse, multi-generational, spiritually gifted tool of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We must push and initiate the relationships that eventually lead to this oneness. We cannot provide excuses for a lack of involvement in the lives of our fellow church members. It IS NOT easy. It IS easy to devote oneself to a campus ministry or a Christian social justice group, but friends, we have been called first and foremost to the church. That is where spiritual blessing and power is manifested in original form. Please, take the Bible’s priorities seriously, and live a Biblically examined life.

Do you love the church more than yourself? Are you more committed to the church than you are to your “Christianized” comfort and pleasure?

Shake the House

for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

(Acts 4:27-31 ESV)

This Tuesday, I will be attending the annual Summit prayer night at their central campus location. I am eagerly anticipating this opportunity to cry out to God with hundreds of other disciples on behalf of both Raleigh-Durham and the world. Providentially, God has finally given me an opportunity to write again and the passage I’m came to this week speaks directly to the power and purpose of corporate prayer.

Our cities and living spaces are full of spiritual enemies and walls. These enemies actively seek ways to corrupt lives and imprison souls. That is why the Christians are gathered here  in this episode of Acts. They had been facing the literal persecution of imprisonment and threat of death. They cried out to God to break these barriers down both political and spiritual. And the presence of God, as a result of hearing their prayers, shook the building that they were gathered in. Such was the power of the Holy Spirit in those people.

I don’t know if God will ever shake a building like that again. I hope he does on Tuesday night. I do know that he will shake this world with the message of the Gospel. Whether you have multiple small prayer groups throughout the week or one large one, I encourage you to joyfully and reverently anticipate and pursue those times of communal prayer. Expect the Lord to come in power, sending you off with boldness to speak the word of God.

They Had Been With Jesus

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

(Acts 4:13 ESV)

I want the power of Christ in me to astonish people. I do not want to be content with being somewhat “nicer” than other people. The power of the Cross and Resurrection gave Peter and John unnatural boldness in the face of those who doubted the validity and expression of their faith. God, may our faces be set towards heaven with ridiculous joy, focus, and boldness.

Do we seek an identity and attitude that shouts to people that we have “been with Jesus“?

 

(FYI :: in a future post I’d like to explore the idea/definition of boldness)

First Impressions of the Early Church

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people.

(Acts 2:41-46 ESV)

This is one of my favorite descriptive stories in the Bible because it gives us an outsiders view into the committed, communal, and celebratory character of the early church. They didn’t view church as a burden, rather they communally reveled in the joy that Christ has provided for them.

• apostle’s teaching
• fellowship
• breaking of bread
• prayer
• common awe
• performance of wonders and signs
• distributing means to those in need
• attending the temple together
• breaking bread in their homes

All of these actions together combined to give them “glad and generous hearts, praising God, and having favor with all people.” The people’s lived revolved around the church. There was not a clear separation between their regular lives and their church lives. Why do we allow there to be a separation in our lives? Are we as much a part of the church the early believers? Are we taking advantage of the blessings and opportunities for service in the forms of hospitality, discipleship, and the dozens of other gifts that have been given to us individually as members of the church?

We cannot expect the blessings that are described above if we do not have the commitment that is described above. We must have faith before God will act. But when we have faith, we know he will give us great blessings.