Power of the Gospel

Several leaders of a church were gathered in prayer. During this time, the Holy Spirit revealed that He wanted two of the leaders to become church planters. After a time of preparation, the two men left to plant churches. The visited eight large cities, and planted four churches.

Normally, God spread His presence with His people. If His people are not in a place, then His presence is not in a place. God’s intention has always been for His people to cover the earth. But, at this time, as today, there are some places where His seed is planted, and some not. The cities they visited had varying degrees of influence by God’s people – some a lot, some not at all.

Let’s get a clear picture of the environment. The cities were spiritual cesspools. Idolatry, superstition and immorality were rampant. There were no Bibles in the heart language of the people. And if there were, there was only 5-10% literacy.

The cities were used to make commercials for relief organizations like Compassion. Families made their living sifting through the dump. There were some land owners, some soldiers, some subsistence farmers, some craftsmen, and possibly half the population were slaves. Poverty was overwhelming. Cities were dirty, smelly and unsafe. There was disease and malnutrition. There was a 25% infant mortality rate. 50% did not reach the age of five. 30% did not reach the age of eighteen. Life expectancy for men was 45. Life expectancy for women was 38.

These cities were “unplowed fields”, with lots of birds, rocks and thorns. The ground was hard. It was next impossible for any “desirable plant” to take root.

Moreover, there were no planes, trains or automobiles. There were three modes of locomotive power: wind, animal and feet. The journey was around 1200 miles, taking about two years. Average travel was around twenty miles a day. 1200 miles at twenty miles means 60 days of traveling. (That is, if everything went well – no sicknesses, no shipwrecks, no robberies, inclement weather, etc.)

Let us assume they attempted to plant a church in every city they visited. How do they do that? There is no TV, no internet, no radio, no newspapers or printing presses. There were no big evangelistic rallies. There were no call-forwards.

(“Call forwards” were not invented until the 1830’s or 1840’s. So, not only were they not part of these church planter’s arsenal, but the world had experienced several large, high-impact revivals with it.)

They sought out those who they believed would be most open. So, they went to the synagogues, arguing from scripture that Jesus was the Messiah. From there, they approached God-fearers wherever there were groups of people: markets, schools and places of business.
So, if they took:
• Two months to travel
• Fours to reach out to four unresponsive cities
• And eighteen months to plant four churches.

That’s an average of four and a half months for each church plant. And in most of the churches that were planted, they were beaten and thrown out of the city. And they left a group of baby Christian to fend for themselves for 1-2 years.

Understand –
• On barren soil,
• In destitute physical circumstances,
• Amid opposition and persecution,
• Amid scores of deceiving voices,
• Without leadership,
• Without resources,
• And with minimal grounding.

(Which sounds like a recipe for disaster) These baby churches survived, thrived and grew.

They presented the gospel and painted a picture of Jesus in a way that all those factors had no power against the gospel and the Spirit behind it. The testimony is that the gospel grew and increased. Transformation was evident everywhere it went.

Transformation

When we became followers of Jesus, why didn't God perfect us? Why not transform us into morally perfect beings? Imagine the tremendous testimony.

Part of the answer is: going through the sanctification process is not just about becoming like Jesus. It is also about learning about God, people, relationship and forgiveness.

God also created many cultures. Why? God has placed a small piece of Himself in every culture. As we express this piece of God in our culture, we demonstrate God's nature to the world. And, as we see the faithful of God in China, India, Kenya and Kazakhstan express that piece of God from their culture, we see God in new ways. We learn what God values from His heart being expressed in and through them.

Many cultures have well-defined expressions of community. We learn God's heart about unity, mutual care giving, mutual encouragement and the need for all of us to have a place.

I have heard American praise these cultures amd lament living in America. As if God was displeased with America and its culture. As if God was somehow surprised by the way America turned out. What do we see when we look at America with God's eyes? We see how God values personal initiative, creativity, responsibility, risk taking, hard work, diversity, as well as individuals and minorities.

(There are not too many places in the world, where one person can stand in front of the whole nation and say "You're wrong!" and be right.)

Being Part of the Mission

If you are a disciple of Jesus, He has given you a mission. He has sent you into the world. He did not send you to be a part of the world. He did not send you to apart from the world. He sent you to fill whatever niche you are in with His presence.

To fill it with His glory. To fill it with His love. To apply the gospel – in word and deed. To be a priest of the Most High God – caring, serve and prophecy. (Phophecy in this case refers to understanding and proclaiming God’s word and purposes to where it is needed.)

Maturity

Watching over the church of God is a good thing. And it is a good thing for a man to aspire to it. But not just anyone can be an overseer. The primary qualifications must be a certain type of heart or character. This heart-character will be revealed by certain types of activity. Scripture tells us in several places that words and actions reveal what is in the heart.

God takes these men and set them to watch over His family. God also gives them to be models. He encourages His children to imitate these men. So, God wants all His children to grow to have this heart, this character and to demonstrate this activity. This description should describe anyone who follows Jesus.

God's Spirit of Hospitality

Throughout eternity past, the Father, Son and Spirit lived together in a completely satisfactory, mutually fulfilling lover relationship. God was a complete community.

In the infinite past, God made plans to extend this community. He would create a multitude of finite beings to share His love relationship. He would create a community within His community. This community would demonstrate his nature, his community and his love relationship.

God chooses to create a community that will have a love relationship with the Godhead, and a love relationship with one another like the love relationship with the Godhead, demonstrating the community of the Godhead.

God chooses to create a community that He will invite these created being to join. He will extend these invitations partly by Himself and partly through His created community.

One of God's primary impulses in His nature, in creation, is hospitality.

(Thank you to Frank Viola. The initial picture of for this post came from Untold Story of the New Testament Church.)

Influence

It is not the pastor who has the greatest impact on people. A large portion of the population will never enter a church.

It is not the televangelists who have the greatest impact on people. Christian TV is not meant to reach the world. It is aimed at Christians. I don't watch Christian TV. And if I don't, what makes anyone think those not following Jesus will watch.

(I don't want to the impression that I think Christian TV is worthless. Still, I don't think it is effective in influencing those who don't follow Jesus.)

Those with the greatest impact on people not following Jesus are everyday, normal Christians. Those who will never preach a sermon, never play in a worship band, or never have a title with the word "pastor" in it.

If someone follows Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives in his heart. So, the Holy Spirit goes wherever he goes -- work, school, the mall, a New York Yankees game, little league, golf, sailing, Mcdonalds, jogging, camping, recycling, I95.

The Possibility of Radical Transformation

The family of God is full of individuals where the Spirit of God dwells. where the Spirit of God is, there exists the possibility of radical transformation.

Most people reading this will think in terms of ther personal life. And this is a true application. But there is a bigger application. Radical transformation is possible wherever the people of God are.

When I order Hunan Chicken from Happy Garden, and I go to pick up my order, the Holy Spirit is now at Happy Garden. There exist the possibility of radical transformation at Happy Garden.

Imitate God

We are encouraged to imitate God. It seems to be a reference to a child’s tendency to imitate its parents’ actions. So, what does the Father do? What is He like? He is infinite. He is holy. He is personal.

The infinite qualities of God are things like being all-powerful, all-knowing, present everywhere and transcendent. These things are physically impossible for us. We cannot hope to imitate them. We cannot hope to understand them.

The holy qualities of God are things like being sinless, moral perfection and righteousness. Human being were designed to follow these patterns. However, sin corrupted the image of God in humans. Until mankind is glorified, people cannot maintain this standard of perfection. But we can strive and move toward it. Commitment to make right choices after failure honors God. Making right choices in the midst of temptation really honors God. Choosing right continually so it become instinctive honors God.

Personal qualities seem to form the largest group. These include things like love, mercy, compassion. And they include the need for community, beauty and creativity. And inner qualities like will, aspirations and hopes. People are designed to move in these areas. We struggle with some, especially those that intersect with the lives of other people. But we can choose to grow in those areas, and choose to sacrifice.

Living Like Jesus

Reading through one of the biographies of Jesus, I asked myself the question, “what did Jesus do?” What a person does and says demonstrates their values and priorities. So, I tallied up his activitiy.

“One healing. One teaching. Another teaching. One exorcism. Another healing.”

Jesus’ life ― outside of the cross ― seems to involve:

He takes people’s circumstances, and makes them better.

A person should not be ill or deformed in body. So he healed. A person should be controlled by evil forces. So he liberated. A person should not be in need. So he fed.

He takes people’s misconceptions and wrong perspectives, and turns them right side up. (Or upside down.)

He shared about getting right with God, the fatherhood of God, acceptance, right living, grace, legalism, money, family and responsibility.

He demonstrated what a right heart and attitude was.

He touched lepers, tax collectors, and the immoral. He uncovered silly rule, rules that did not accomplish what God intended. He made decisions with one ear tuned to God, the other to the ground, one hand to the plow, the other held out in welcome, one eye on the road and the other one the prize.

He lived his journey in an efficient, effortless and assured manner that we cannot hope to match, but which we are urged to imitate.

Learning

True learning or discipleship cannot be accomplished in a "pew" or a classroom setting; related activity must accompany lecture or true learning does not happen.

God of Surprises

Life is not easy, because there does not seem to be any rules.

When Israel arrived at the Jordan River to go into Canaan, the river was flooding. God commanded the priests to carry the ark into the river, ahead of the people. When all the priests were standing in the river, God pushed the river back so the people could walk across on dry land.

Sometimes God’s guidance is just like the opening of the river. We have to get our feet wet before the way to go opens up before us.

Sometimes God does reveal the end from the beginning. Abraham knew that he should travel to Canaan, have a son, and bring blessing to the world. Moses knew he would lead Israel to Canaan. Jesus knew he would go to the cross. Paul knew he would take the gospel to the gentiles.

God does not lead everyone one way. He is the god of surprises. If God laid out his rules, and always followed them, then He would become predictable. To follow Him would not be a matter of faith. We could follow Him by sight.

“OK … God just applied rule #1, so He is going to apply rule #2 pretty quick. That means I better to A and B, not C and D.”

Even though He showed Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Paul what the end would be, that does not mean they knew every step of the way. (With the possible exception of Jesus. Jesus breaks the mold in a lot of ways. He lived in complete dependence on God, but He was God.) They needed to trust God for the next step. And the next step. And the one after that. So, they could be sure to reach the end.

Survival?

What is the sustaining force of any church? It is God's Spirit which sustains, directs, empowers and gives gifts and brings growth.

Who is the head of the any church? Jesus followers everywhere proclaim that Jesus is the head of the church. Jesus is the head of the church and they are a family of priests. All believers minister.

So, what would happen to the average church if the building blew up and the pastor and staff went with it? The church should still exist. The family of God still exists. The head of the church is still alive. The one who sustains it still exists and still is working. Life may be different because important members -- even strategic members -- are gone.

So how would the average church react?

Maturity

Steve Covey wrote that we all create thing twice. First, we create them in our inner life. Then, we create them in the world. So, the shape of our inner life determines what flows out of our lives. Our character,  temperament, perspectives, worldview and experiences give birth to our actions.

James seeks to demonstrate that a proper walk with God produces proper actions. So, he encourages:

• Right response to trial/temptation
• “doing” the word
• Fair treatment of people
• Faith and works
• Right speech
• Wisdom and its deeds
• Being friends with God
• Being content
• Right use of wealth
• Being patient
• Being honest
• Being devoted to prayer
• Encouragement to follow the Truth

The life of a Jesus-follower oscillates back and forth between flection, listening and absorbing to doing, loving and obeying. Doing allows the grace, love and spirit of God to flow from us.

The filling of the Holy Spirit alone does not produce fruit or promote spiritual maturity. The flow of the Holy spirit produces fruit and promotes spiritual maturity.

Guidance II

Just because there are surprises, it does not mean that God is arbitrary. He does not follow whims. He is not capricious. He does want us to know Him, understand Him, so we will trust Him.

We learn to trust people, when they tell us what they intend to do, how they intend to do it, and they do what they say. So, God reveals Himself to us, and He acts according to what He says. He always does what He says. So, we can always trust Him.

He promises He will guide us. He promises that He will not contradict what He has told us about Himself, what He values, or the way He told us to live. He did NOT promise to give us the precise method of guidance. 

He could have promised to mail us detailed instructions, complete with diagrams and a MapQuest map. But He didn’t. He sometimes tells us  where the end is. He promises to show us the right road. But fairly often, we won’t know which turn to make until we are right at the intersection.

Guidance

One thing that most Jesus-followers hold is that God is active in the lives of people. This includes providing guidance. Guidance should make life easier. God knows a lot more than we do. But there seems to be a surprising lack of rules.

When Israel arrived at the Jordan River to go into Canaan, the river was at flooding. God commanded the priests to carry the Ark, and walk ahead of the people, right into the river. When all of the priests were standing in the river, God pushed the water back into a heap, so the people could walk across on dry land.

Sometimes, God’s guidance is just like opening up the river. You need to get your feet wet before the way opens up.

But sometimes God reveals the end from the beginning. Abraham knew he should go to Canaan. There he would have a son that would bring blessing to the whole world. Moses knew he would lead Israel from Egypt to Canaan. Jesus knew he would go to the cross. Paul knew he would take the gospel to the gentiles.

 God does not lead everyone only one way. He is the God of surprises. If God followed one method, he would become predictable. And we would follow him by what knew, and not by faith. This element of surprise leaves God in control. Following requires a bit of courage and a bit of risk taking.

Even though he does show us where the end will be, that does not mean there will not be unexpected turns or landslides blocking the road. We have never been on this road before. We will always need to be actively engaged with the road and with our Guide.

Easter Thoughts

Some of us got together Friday night before Easter to watch “The Passion of The Christ”. I had seen it before. Two things stood out to me this time. First, a faction of the Jewish religious leaders committed legalized murder. The trial was at night. Only a part of the religious leaders were called. Jesus was struck at the trial. The high priest directly questioned Jesus. All illegal according to Jewish jurisprudence. And the Jewish leaders worked to incite a riot to convince the Roman authorities to crucify Jesus.

Second, Jesus was scourged and nailed to a cross. When he dies, the universe changes. A cosmic spiritual shockwave created a tsunami that engulfed all creation. Like creation or Noah’s flood, when everything was new. The rules had changed. Even the playing field is different.

Easter Thoughts

Some of us got together Friday night before Easter to watch “The Passion of The Christ”. I had seen it before. Two things stood out to me this time. First, a faction of the Jewish religious leaders committed legalized murder. The trial was at night. Only a part of the religious leaders were called. Jesus was struck at the trial. The high priest directly questioned Jesus. All illegal according to Jewish jurisprudence. And the Jewish leaders worked to incite a riot to convince the Roman authorities to crucify Jesus.

Second, Jesus was scourged and nailed to a cross. When he dies, the universe changes. A cosmic spiritual shockwave created a tsunami that engulfed all creation. Like creation or Noah’s flood, when everything was new. The rules had changed. Even the playing field is different.

The Present and The Future

Does anyone remember seeing a bike in a store and going “Wow! I want that bike!” ? (It could have been – and probably was – something else.) You wanted that “whatever it was” (WIW) really bad. It embodied the best that could ever be. If the WIW grabbed ahold of you imagination, maybe you would starting planning and preparing to buy it. You volunteered for extra work to earn extra money. You sacrificed purchasing something else. And you began saving until you had enough to get the WIW.

Notice what happens here. We see something, and it creates a wonderful view of the future. And it changes the way we behave.

The present creates the future; and the future creates the present.

 

Effect on the World

God called Israel (and through them the church) to receive God’s blessing so they could be a blessing to the world. God’s people are God’s gift to the world. Each one of God’s people should turn their niche in the world upside-down. The world should see the life and conduct of God’s people, and be blown away.

Which has several implications:

• God never intended his children to do this by themselves. So, the children need to gather in families, which are also armies. We cannot think of a horde. We need to think of squadrons or platoons. We can only be effective at that level.
• Worship meetings are not the be-all and end-all of following Jesus. Some people consider a worship meeting the primary method of demonstrating Jesus to the world. And it can be a part of that demonstration. Even if a meeting has a revolutionary effect on those who do attend, not everyone will attend. Baggage from past experiences, or expectations based on wrong information or incorrect perspectives, will convince many people to avoid any type of church meeting. So, those in Jesus’ family need to conceive of a way to engage the world outside of the meeting. (This at a time when the church seems to fear the corrupting influence of the world more than believe in the positive influence of the Holy Spirit and God’s family. As a result, they avoid engaging the world.)
• The government and society are becoming increasingly secularized and anti-religious. The church continues to expectthat it can get the government to do its work for it. In many ways, the church acts like we are still in medieval times. It believes the world revolves around it and it stands in the center of society and holds all the strings. The universe does revolve around God. But the church began on the fringes of society. It did move to the center. But there was no guarantee that it would stay there. Indeed, it is moving back to the fringes.

Habits

God mad Man to be a creature of habit. When faced with a complex process, humans will always internalize the process until the can perform it on auto-pilot. It works this way with religious processes too. People develop habits of spirituality. Except we tend to call them tradiitons or rituals. These habits have a strong possiblity of taking over, so people need to be in continuual renewal so their relationship with God does not deteriorate into ritual motions.

Living Sacrifice (pt. 2)

Since, our life is intended to be worship ― demonstrated by words, actions and thoughts that agree with God’s purposes ― then our lives must conform to God’s purposes. Life flows from the inside out. So, our hearts must change. Our thinking must be transformed so our word and deed are transformed. We take new pattern that agrees with God’s purposes. It is like we have transformed DNA. We belong to a pattern that God approves. We can know, agree and duplicate God’s pattern. God’s DNA expresses God’s purposes in life and the world.

Living Sacrifice

Paul urged us to give consideration to God’s mercies. And as a result of that consideration, give our bodies as a “living sacrifice.” When I think about sacrifices, what occurs to me is that sacrifices give themselves totally. It has no rights, no conditions. There is only surrender. Paul points out that this surrender that is holy and pleasing to God. This surrender is worship.

This surrender affects a person’s heart. It impels a person from the core of his being to act, speak and think in ways that please God and conform to His purpose.

Worship is not longer just going to a meeting and singing praises, rehearsing in our mind God’s works and character. Worship becomes living out God’s purposes in our everyday living.

Evangelism - Storing

We do not harvest crops for exercise. Does it make sense to pick a bushel of beans, but leave them sitting in the garden? This whole process of preparing, sowing, cultivating and reaping is people could enjoy the fruit. This whole process of spiritual horticulture is so God can enjoy the fruit.

We store the fruit, so it doesn’t spoil. And there are several methods to do this: drying, canning, and freezing. And people could partially prepare food – like make spaghetti sauce – before storing it. Storage is probably the most important step.

We do not have food to rot in the garden. We do not leave babies to fend for themselves. Why do we think new followers of Jesus are fully ready to go it alone? And we don’t send babies to school. Having formal classes are not bad. But parenting is not simply making sure children get to school. There is modeling, relating, and fostering values. These cannot be done in a classroom setting.

Evangelism - Reaping

This is the part of the process that everyone in the current church seems to focus on. A person makes a commitment to follow Jesus. He is born again. He is reconciled to God.

There are many tools that people can use for this. All of them seem to do a good job of explaining the process of commitment. Everyone needs to know how to complete this step.

It is an important step. Just like the birth of a child is an important step. But any parent will tell you, birth is just the start. And God says that every one of His children was reborn to have a relationship with Him. The process does not stop at the decision. The process has just begun.

Evangelism - Cultivation

I am using the word to include all those things involved in producing positive growth, like water, fertilizer, and weeding. These are controllable factors (if you turn the sprinkler on) that can be wisely applied. Love, compassion and service can show God's heart for people. As can, inviting people to participate in situations that enable them to connect with God's family, to interact with them and observe them, and observe them interact with one another. And defending truth steadfastly, persistently, faithfully, but with patience, kindness and gentleness.

Evangelism - Sowing

Seed is often used in scripture as a metaphor for the word of God. One plants different seed at different times, in different ways. Peas are planted very early. Cucumbers, squash and melons are planted in small mounds. Corn is clustered together. The timing and method of the planting determines the fruitfulness of the seed.

Successful evangelism involves proclaiming the word of God. Yet like gardening, there are timing and methodology issues. Today it is possible to go to a Starbucks and get in a spiritual conversation with a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Wiccan, a Mormon and a chemical-determinist. Each requires different approaches and different truths. Different truths are necessary, because they are in different stages of their journey. So, one may be ready to hear the good news message, from one of the popular tools. And another may only be open to a tiny bit. We need to approach each person with spiritual sensitivity, applying that part of the word that is needed.

Evangelism - Preparation

In the Bible, evangelism is described using an gardening metaphor. It is a process and each part of the gardening process can be viewed as part of the "good news" process.

The first step in gardening is preparing the soil. There are a number of things to do in preparation. The gardener needs to decide what to plant. Corn? Beans? Peas? Cucumbers? The methods of planting these common plants is different for each plant. He has to break up the soil. He has to lay out the garden, according to what is being planted.

There are a number spiritual practices that can be put under this category. There is prayer. And prayer with different focuses: to soften hearts, to remove obstacles that blind eyes, to hinder the enemy's work that causes confusion, discouragement and despair.

This area could also include acts of service, mercy and compassion within the local community. These acts can communicate the heart of God's people. Jesus served people who did not know Him by acceptance, healing their ills and insight into their problems.

It can also include lifestyle choices and practices to demonstrate integrity, character and Christ-like attitudes. The last two paint a picture of a positive effect of following Jesus to the world. The first works with God to promote a positive spiritual climate where all reparation can have the greatest effect.

Evangelism

Evangelism usually creates mental images of televangelists in big stadiums, unwanted intrusions knocking at your door, or someone sticking a pamphlet in your face. Usually, impolitely. Evangelism is derived from a Greek word meaning "good news" or "good report". Most people who are not part of God's family treat it like an intrusion. It doesn't seem to them to be good news at all.

It seems to me that for someone to receive it as good news, there is a process that needs to be gone through.

First, we need to demonstrate that in reality, it is good news. We need to show what a life of trust in Jesus means. Francis Schaeffer called this pre-evangelism. How we go about this changes, depending in circumstances, and cultural background. Sometimes rational arguments can be used. Sometimes an emotional stimulus is needed. And sometimes practical works. The end result that we are looking for, is someone saying "Hmm ... there is something good/right/true about this Jesus thing. Something that maybe I need." I am not suggesting that God's children over emphasize the positive aspects of living life with Jesus. Nor am I suggesting that they ignore or minimize the commitment and possible complications. Still, good news needs to be seen as good news.

Second, there is an explanation of the message of Jesus. Simply laid out. Tailored at the level of the audience's understanding. The Bible says we need to adapt our communication, rather than compel the audience to adapt to our communication.

The focus of our attention also gives us a picture of the core desire of our heart. God has designed our hearts to fulfill our place in His kingdom. He has placed this core desire to motivate us to the place that has the most profit and gives us the most joy.

The enemy wants to prevent that desire from actualizing. He will give us a counterfeit. God's purpose will gain as much profit in proportion to our grasping and pursuing our desire. Our joy will follow the same way.

Focus of the Heart

Jesus continues His theme of heart focus. What we focus on reveals much about the condition of our heart. What we give our attention to fills our hearts, and conidtions our hearts. And our hearts take on more light ... or more darkness.

Heart Focus

Jesus gave a series of instructions about people conducting spiritual exercises. (Fasting, prayer, giving to the poor, etc.) Some people would conduct these exercises in a way that would draw attention to their piety. Jesus simply states that God doesn’t give a reward for this. The attention from other people is their reward.

However, He seems to always go deeper. He is not concerned with the exercises per se. He is drawing attention to our hearts. What is the focus of our hearts?

The focus of these exercises ought to be the increase of depth, breadth and intimacy of our relationship with God. We can see the focus of the heart by its overflow. Where we expend our time, energy, money, passion and enthusiasm gives shape to our heart focus.

It isn't how much you know that matters. It's how much you love.

Shrewd Manager

To carry this one step further, after telling that story, he tells another story. This one was about a rich man, who hires a manager to take care of his investments.

One day . the rich man orders the manager to update the books, because he has ordered an audit. Evidently, the manager hed made some bad decisions, so the books weren’t going to look to good. He figured he was going to get fired. So, he needed to quick prepare for the future.

He wasn’t in shape for physical labor. But he wasn’t too pleased about becoming homeless either.

He came up with a plan to create goodwill with the people he did business, so he cold get a job with one of them. He called them up, and reduced their bills. Whatever money he would receive from these outstanding bills was not going to take him too far. But a large amount of goodwill might. His boss actually complimented him on the idea. It showed he knew what was important and he was wisely able to weigh to the positives and negatives in a method to achieve it.

Jesus told the story of the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son, and then the shrewd manager. Does anyone serious think this story is about managing money?

So, Jesus asks, “Why is it that those who are supposed to be spiritually in sync with God can’t recognize what’s important, and wisely assess the positives and negatives of achieving it.”

God is not glorified by condemning bad people; God is glorified by transforming bad people into good people.

We need to make sure we use our resources to achieve that which is ultimately important. And we are not considering money necessarily. The Pharisees were supposed to have a superior knowledge of God, and a superior relationship with God. Assets that should promote transformation.

In the Lost parables, Jesus demonstrates that people do not have God’s perspective on the lost. And in the manager parable, Jesus demonstrates that people, who are in the best position to search for the lost, are not interested in searching for the lost.

The Lost Parables

Jesus told stories to teach about spiritual truth. And it seems to me that a lot of times his stories were like jokes. That is, he would set you up, and then deliver a punchline. Except the punchline, instead of making you laugh, exposed wrong thinking or attitudes. For instance, I have been thinking about a case in point.

Jesus is talking to some people who are considered bad. Today, they would be drug addicts, or people with AIDS.

He tells a story about someone who has 100 sheep and loses one. He goes, finds it and has a party to celebrate.

Then, he tells the story of a woman who has 10 coins, and loses one. She cleans the house, finds it and has a party to celebrate.

Anybody besides me feel the set up? How do people respond when they lose something valuable? They go crazy until they find it. They look in places they haven't been in month. They look in pockets of clothes they haven't been in years. And they celebrate when they find it.

Then, he tells the story of a father and two sons. The younger son insults the father, the family, their values and way of life. He demands his inheritance, and wastes it all in one big party.

Then, he gets into trouble. And he realizes that the lowest person working for his father is better off than he is. So, he goes home, apologizes to his father, and asks for a job. His father, instead of a two-hour I-told-you-so speech, throws a party to celebrate. (Anybody see a pattern here?)

Now the older son -- who did not trash the family and worked hard -- comes home, sees what's going on, and gets angry. What's the difference? Evidently, it's OK to celebrate finding a lost thing. And it's not OK to celebrate finding a lost person.

Somebody doesn't understand how a Father views His lost children. And how we should view them.

Live By faith

We are to walk by faith. We are to carry out every single aspect of our lives by faith.

Faith must have an object. It has a direction. It is a vector. (A vector in physics is some property that has both magnitude and direction. Speed is a scalar. It has only magnitude. 55 MPH. Velocity is a vector. It has both magnitude and direction. 55 MPH north going toward Boston.) With a direction, something must point the way. Direction is given to men by the Word of God. So, we are to carry out every aspect of our lives according to the promises of God.

We go to work according to the promises of God. We raise our children according to the promises of God. We live with our spouses according to the promises of God. We complete the mission of God − establishing growing, reproducing churches among every people group in the world − according to the promises of God.

What does God promise about His mission:

• That His message will be proclaimed in all the world.
• That He will be with His people as the go into the world.
• That the evil one cannot stop His people.
• That, as a result, God will claim as His own some from every tribe, nation and tongue.

Hearts and the Spirit

The heart controls the person. Everything that he\she does arises from the heart. That's one reason why it is important for God's Spirit to reside in our hearts. He motivates our actions and words. He is the agent of transformation.

If anyone proclaims that Jesus is Lord, he is one of God's children. He is a channel for God's Spirit. Everyone of God's family is a channel for God's Spirit. 

Everyone of God's family has a special spiritual ability. This way everyone of God's children has a place to serve, to contribute, within the family. Everyone of God's family is a servant to God's family. This ability is a manifestation of the Spirit channeling through a person.

Community is important to God. But community is not important to western society. It is a buzzword we pass around. But our lives show that we are lying to ourselves.

There are values and practices that God esteems. We say we esteem them also. . But our lives show that we are lying to ourselves.

• If we believe in community, why is it so hard to become involved with a small group of people?
• If we believe that life is really in Jesus, life without Him not only results in eternal condemnation, but is also inherently meaningless, and we are God’s ambassadors, why is it so hard to talk to people about Jesus?
• If we believe that we need to be “devoted to prayer”, why is it so hard to spend time at it?
• If we believe that love is the most important work in life, why are we so focused on our own lives, to the exclusion of pretty much everything else?

We all believe that works demonstrate beliefs. What most followers of Jesus seem to believe is life in Jesus is going to weekend meetings, and following a list of rules that defines what is bad and what is good.

Living in the world tends to create a tension. Tension is caused by opposing forces acting on each other. One force is God’s Spirit pushing us to live obediently to his call and lifestyle. Another force is the world spirit pushing us to obey its call and lifestyle.

Human beings do not like to live in a state of tension. They will work to resolve the tension. Usually by yielding to the tension.

The family of God will relieve the tension by immersing themselves in a lifestyle surrounding by the “things of God.” Meetings, concerts, and radio\TV. They fill their time with “approved” spiritual events. As a result, they fail to obey God to engage the world in transformational ways.

Or they yield to the worlds values. They may not outright embrace hedonism, but the they will seek personal peace and prosperity. They engage the world, but not in ways that challenge the need for transformation, for reconciliation with God.

God call us to live within the tension. To live with uncomfortable forces demanding from us. To embrace values and a lifestyle that honor God. To engage with the world in ways that bring the transformational power of Jesus to bear on the world’s issues. To serve it with mercy and generosity. To challenge it will speaking truth, and radical living and loving.

God's Heart for the Nations

I have been considering for the last couple weeks how to view the average disciple’s responsibility to the world. God calls his children to adopt his heart. We should want what he wants. We should yearn for what he yearns. We should aim for what he aims. Jesus taught his disciples to pray:

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

We call for the realities of God’s kingdom to be imposed on this world. For God to infuse his DNA into the structure of the world, and cell by cell, to transform it.

Modern Jesus-followers has come to picture this as a type of “sharia” being imposed on the land. This seems to me to be a type of religious spirit. Disciples assuming the same mind-set as Islamic radicals. Maybe with a gentler face, but with the same constraints on behavior − rather than an inner transform.

God’s picture is very different in a number of ways. One of his pictures can be described this way:

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne, and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice.

“Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.”

From the beginning, God’s heart has been for the nations – recreated by a heart transformation. And God’s role for his family has been the same, whether it is the church or the nation of Israel.

• As priests, mediating between God and the world.
• As a blessing, taking what God has given us and sharing it with the world.
• As witnesses, declaring what we have seen, heard and experienced.

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine on us, that your ways may be known on the earth, your salvation among the nations.

I tend to interpret the phrase about God’ face as a reference to experiencing his presence. If that is true, and worship is in its essence communion with God, (being in his presence) then, at least one purpose of worship is a proclamation to the nations of the nature of God, and what it means to live with and for him.

(I can see it could be a reiteration of God bestowing blessing on his family. Sill, many speak of God’s presence with us as one of the primary blessings of having a relation with him. And worship is often described in terms of communion and intimacy. Then, intimacy with God becomes one of the primary weapons of the gospel and kingdom propagation – at least, one that transforms our hearts to be like his heart.)

It may not be God’s desire for all of his children to travel to the “uttermost parts,” but it is his desire for them to have his heart. And we can see his heart by his expectation that all nations will be present with him, united together for eternity. And this should be our heart too.

Shaken

People have religious structures surrounding them, and in them. People work out their philosophy, theology and often, depend on them more than Jesus. So, there are numerous people that Jesus has worked through a process of stripping away these structures that people build.

The stripping process is very scary. The ground we stnd on seems to vanish beneath our feet. All the things we were sure of do not hold up anymore.

God want us to trust Him, so He needs to be the foundation. So, He intends to shake, sift and remove anything “false” that we rely on.

I put “false” in quotes, because often our foundation may even rest on true or good things. But, if the truth distracts us from real devotion to the person Jesus, we will eventually find ourselves going through the a stripping away.

Designed for Communion

Seems to me that I mentioned this idea previously, but I don't seem to find it. Maybe I need to start using labels. (I really like to understand embedding pictures and links. I'll experiment with those one day.) But this will expand a little on what might have been said previously.

God made us. God designed us. We are designed for communion with Him. We are designed for communion with a community. We seek out naturally our spiritual centers. We seek out naturally people to share with. We need these things. We are not whole if we do not have them. They are our fuel. We do not run correctly if we do not have them.

We seek them out and find them, one way or another. Whether they are the right sort of communion is another matter.

Many people find spiritual communion in counterfeit philosophy. We may find community outside of God's family. But it is not the proper resting place. Our hearts will still long for the correct place ... if we listen to them. One of the tactics of the enemy is to suggest a place, get us to stop there, and then try to drown out the calls of the Father, or the calls of our hearts. He tries to convince us to settle for a counterfeit. And our souls do not function well on polluted fuel.

Paradoxes

I witnessed a conversation yesterday between two people. The basic topic was about the goodness of God versus evil in the world. The discuss hinged around God's control and man's part. Not much was settled. There seems to be almost an unsolvable paradox surrounding these questions. Rather than regurgitate the arguments, I would like to list several things that seem to me to be true, and pertinent.

• God is good.
• God is in control.
• Mankind has free-will ... even to the point of defying God.
• God limits the use of His power to allow mankind to partner with God.
  
• Mankind does play a part in carrying out God's will.

How this all connects together and works out in any particular situation? I'm not sure anyone can answer that question.

Salt of the Earth

Thor Heyerdahl, in Kon Tiki, was half way across the Pacific on a balsa wood raft to prove that it was possible for the Polynesian islands to have been populated from South America. The water they stored in barrels was beginning to run out. They would not have enough to get them through to the islands.

They could call in the support boat and leave. But it would mean the purpose of their voyage would remain unanswered at best. Failed at worst. What would these south American sailors have done? They could not drink the sea water. They did not have enough fresh water.

Someone asked the question about supplementing the fresh water with sea water. By using a small amount of sea water mixed with the fresh, could they stretch out the consumption of water enough to reach their goal? So, they tried an experiment. They mixed a small amount of sea water with some fresh water.

They created a mixture that they could drink. And it did increase the supply of water. But it did something else. They discovered that their need for water decreased. They rate of consumption went down.

This probably has something to do with electrolytes. Salt is more than a spice. More than a preservative. It is a component of the body that facilitates proper hydration. Proper hydration is necessary for proper functioning of the human body. Electrolyte imbalance can result in sickness and death.

Jesus compared His family with salt. He said they were salt for the world. Followers of Jesus are necessary for the earth to function correctly. Without them, it will slowly die.

For my regular readers, (LOL) you will probably notice that I have not been posting recently. That's because of the marriage mentioned in my profile. It is getting very close. So, I have been trying to help get ready. (That plus graduations, graduation parties, ... Why is the beginning of summer so busy?)

It's not just getting ready for a wedding. It is also helping setting up a new family. Apartment. Furniture. Kitchen supplies. (All of which is now stored at my house. Makes breathing difficult, let alone blogging.)

Hopefully, I will be back exploring the dimensions of the God\man relationship soon.

4 Soils - Good Soil

The last soil is “good soil.” The seed penetrates the ground. It is received. Good soil means there are no rocks. The plants can sink their roots deep into the soil. It can draw on resources deep in the soil, untouched by the heat. ood soil means there are no thorns. So, there are no influences to draw the resources away from the plants. All resources can be concentrated in the growth of the plant. The end result is that the plants grow abundantly and thrive. They produce abundant fruit.

Does this mean that growing and producing fruit in living as a disciple of Jesus resolve down to a couple of basic things?

1. Learning to draw life from Jesus. We might call “life” in this sense emotional, psychological and spiritual wholeness. It is restrictions in this life hinder people from taking risks and making changes that could propel them to greater living.
2. Learning to focus on profitable areas that build a person’s heart. We cannot totally focus on spiritual things. Even monks need to maintain their bodies. People living “normally” have to focus on jobs, cooking and cleaning, paying bills. So, at least people need to minimize the effects of these legitimate distractions. Then, we need to eliminate or minimize other distractions. Some distractions could be lethally draining. All the addictions that people discuss nowadays. Other distractions could be acceptable (TV watching for example) by still suck up time and energy that could otherwise be spent more profitably.

This identifies the general what’s of growth and fruit producing. What about specific what’s? Can “playing hopscotch” enable us to tap into Jesus’ energy reserves? There are how questions too. Material for future posts?

4 Soils : Thorny Ground

The third soil is "thorny ground." Thorns grow beside the plants and draw important resources away from them. So, the seed is received. It penetrates the soil. But it grows in a situation where it is competing for resource. And often, losing the competition.

Thorns are anything that siphon off time and energy. So, life is given to unprofitable areas.

We all know people who begin to follow Jesus, and then begin to focus on unprofitable areas. They are divided in heart. So, they don't really progress in either area. They may grow some. But they don't produce fruit as they would, if they were whole-hearted. And part of Jesus' purpose for us is fruit.

4 Soils - Rocky Ground

The second soil is “rocky ground.” The seed is received and penetrates the ground. The plant begins to grow.

But the soil has no depth. There is no room for it to put down roots. The plant does not gain a firm hold. When the sun rises, and parches the ground, it loses easily accessible reserves and withers.

Some people are lured by a life of blessing — provision, protection, guidance, power to overcome. They expect to glide along easy street. And when the inevitable trouble comes, they are not well-connected enough to Jesus’ resources to stand.

People like this have expectations of what life with Jesus is like. And this conception is no where near reality. In awhile, when their expectations are not being met, they fade away, and go back to their old way of living.

4 Soils - Beside the Road

Jesus told a story about planting seed in four different types of soil. The four soils represent four different types of hearts.

The first soil “beside the road” does not even receive the seed sown on it. The soil is hard. The seed is not able to penetrate. If you have spoken to anyone about Jesus, you met people like this. “I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to hear about it.”

Jesus said we are witnesses. Meaning we should talk about what we see and know. We are supposed to give a defense. Meaning we should be able to give a reasonable explanation of why we believe what we believe. We are examples. Meaning we should demonstrate what life with Jesus is like. And each of these should be compelling. However, some people will simply refuse to be engaged. And it is not our job to make them curious about Jesus. We shouldn’t feel guilty about just walking away. The job of touching hearts and arousing interest is God’s.

Authority

There was a Roman centurion, who had a sick servant. He sent to ask Jesus to heal the servant. Jesus was about to go to do this, when another messenger came. Jesus did not need to come. The centurion understood authority. He had authority. He was under authority of others. Authority seems to be the ability to give commands and to reasonably expect that they will be obeyed. The centurion could give commands, and soldiers under him would obey not because of his tremendous power, but because he represented the power of the Roman Empire. It was the Roman army that backed him up with its power.

The centurion recognized that Jesus had similar authority. Because Jesus could command demons and disease to leave people, he concluded that God must be backing Jesus up with His power. So, Jesus could command the disease in the servant to leave. So, Jesus did not lay hands on the servant as he usually did. As far as we can tell, Jesus did not verbally command the disease.

Has Jesus given us authority? Is he backing us up?

Following religion hinders relationship. The rules, the rituals and the standards (set up for usually good reasons) become shackles that hinder us from walking with Jesus.

Jesus did not set us free from following the Law to establish a new set of rules. Rather the only rules that should govern us are (1) love God with all your heart, (2) love you neighbor as yourself. These fulfill the whole law, and are the basis for relationship.

We create religion because it is easier to get ones brain around it. It is easier to judge progress. It is less messy. Paul writes to different churches so they will not settle for religion. He wants them to pursue relationship.

I am reading "House2House" magazine. They quote George Barna as saying, "People who change the world are very inefficient." The family of God should be world changers. So, they should be inefficient.

This not to say that efficiency or organization are bad. But efficiency means that someone has worked through the process enough times to remove all the bottle-necks. So, they are walking over the same ground time after time.

If the people of God are working together like a smooth running engine, they are functioning on their own initiative, their own strength. They are not pressing onto new ground. God is not leading them, because God will lead to his people out of the box into places where faith is important. We will need to trust him, because we will not see where our feet land or the trail leads. But we will make progress where it counts.

It's almost like the opposite of efficiency is faith. (But let's not go quite that far.)

Religion seems to be a response of man to the Infinite. The question always seems to be — “How can I appease the Infinite?” “How can I persuade the Infinite?” It seeks to provide a predictable set of outcomes. So, it creates a law, a pattern of desired behaviors. Maintain the pattern and a person can maintain peace with God.

Abraham and God entered into a relationship 400 years before God gave Moses the Law. This relationship was established not on the basis of rules that Abraham obeyed, and he pleased God on the basis of that obedience. (Remember there were no rules. No temple. No system of sacrifices.) The relationship was established based on promises God gave to Abraham. And Abraham believed God.

What seems to please God are people living in a relationship with him, that is based on faith in what God says. Living out of that relationship, acting on God’s words. Yes, God speaks commands, but Abraham did not live out of the commands. He lived out of the promises.

Here is an interesting thought. We tend to think of eternal life as the part of our existence that begins after our deaths. (How’s that for paradox. Existing after death.) And we think of relationship as affecting our current life. Yet Jesus said that eternal life is knowing God. (If anyone wants the specific quotation, let me know.) In other words, eternal life is our relationship with God.

So, the gospel, which most people associate with avoiding hell, is about our relationship with God. Our relationship concerns how we live now. If A= B and B = C, then the gospel really is about how we live our life now. (Just be thankful that our now is going to last a very, very, VERY long time.)

God wants us to have a life of relationship with him, resulting in people taking steps of obedience, resulting in fruit. Distortions in the gospel can occur when people add to how we enter into a relationship with God. This can also occur in how when practice that relationship.

God may proclaim a fast and we need to heed his voice. Someone else may proclaim a fast. God may or may not call us to participate in it. Our relationship comprises what optimizes our connection with God. Agreement with and participation in a good thing will not bring us closer to God. Still, God may call us into agreement with this good.

The gospel is not just about avoiding hell. This is about how to establish and live out a relationship with God. This gospel is about living in ways that:

• glorify God
• are free and truly human
• completely from our hearts, and
• fully joyful.

Being a Christian is more that avoiding hell and merely being good.

If we are serious about communication with the Creator of the universe, Lord of all. If we open ourselves to him, receiving his whispers into our hearts, it is a very frightening proposition of what he could say to us.

Only a conviction that the mercy of God is vast and he takes that into consideration in all his interactions with us.

There are the stars. The moon. Sunsets. Rainbows. Ice into water into steam. Geese flying in gigantic V's. Atoms that should fly apart holding together. Caterpillars transforming into butterflies inside cocoons. The moving tides. Leaves turning color, falling off and budding in the spring. Babies forming in the womb.

In view of all this wonder, who is man that God in mindful of him? And not only mindful, but pursuing. engaging in relationship. revealing his heart and his secrets.

When we consider relationship with God, it is hard to fathom that God loves us. God will come to us Himself.

People used to approach God through the leaders — Moses, and then the Levitical priesthood. Then, people use to approach God through Jesus. When Jesus returned to the Father, the Spirit of God came to take residence in our hearts — because the Father Himself loves us.

So, He wants to care for us, abide with us, be close to us and have fellowship with us. His communication will not be through any intermediary. It will be directly to us. Relationship with God takes a quantum lead nearer.

Importance of Relationship

There was a writer who began giving a poetic description of some of the world's wonders. Kind of like:

Sunsets and rainbows. Geese flying in gigantic V's. A caterpillar spinning a caccoon, and emerging transformed into a butterfly. The moving tides. Leaves changing color, falling off trees, and then budding again in spring. Stars and planets racing through their courses in space. Two small seeds combining and growing into a human being. All the atoms of the universe should fly apart. But they hold together.

Then he asks the question, in the face of all this wonder "who is man that you are mindful of him?" Not only does God think about us, but He pursues us. He engages in relationship. He reveals His heart and His secrets.

After creating wonders, what God wants is to be your friend. It is very hard to get your head around something like that.