I like those two words. Vagaries refers to unpredictability, vicissitudes refers to change. These two words are descriptive of the nature of organizations, even those who ostensibly have divine origins. The church is God’s creation, but local congregations are a product of human beings attempting to partner with God to faithfully express this glorious spiritual reality called the church. The body of Christ is spread thorough out the world, existing in a single room gathering of a dozen or so all the way to the world’s largest church, in Korea with 700,000 plus members.

The church – ‘what is it?’

But after you throw the whole thing in a pot and boil it down to its essential ingredients what do you find? Is the church principally about a preacher? Is it principally about a great worship leader? Does its vitality reside in the capability of one or two or three leaders? No, that cannot be true. “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (I Cor. 12:27) And for that to become something actual and real it must take have expression in a local gathering. It comes down to a body of people, no matter what size, who love each other, and who seek to demonstrate in as many ways as possible the glories of Jesus Christ, and His gospel. Romans 12:5 makes this observation: so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. We are members of one another – this language is really quite extraordinary. It speaks of our connection to one another as if we were like a arm or a leg to one another. This interconnectedness is a statement of spiritual truth, but too often it is a truth that is not existential truth. God declares it to be the case, but we do not experience it as true. Why?

The church is organic, and must be ‘cultivated’

In the Garden of Eden God uses two words to describe part of Adam’s responsibility: The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it (Gen. 2:15) Those two words ‘work’ and ‘keep’ are used in combination again only in reference to the sanctuary. Specifically of the Levites in describing their duties. By the time we get to the N.T. God reveals that the new temple is the people of God, and we are priests in that temple (Rev. 1:5-6 – To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ⁶and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.(See also 1 Peter 2:9; 1 Cor. 3:16; Ephesians 2:21) Those words ‘work’ and ‘keep’ can be applied to every believer in the local church. We are called upon to care for and cultivate in God’s temple.

That’s theological. Now listen to the practical application of that truth: – if you do not regularly and routinely seek to live out that connectedness it will seem as though it is not true. That means making time for one another. It seems to me that having a rich life with others in a church community is similar to having a rich life with God (hint: It is required by the nature of personhood). If you expect to know God by coming to church on Sunday and then spending very little time with Him throughout the rest of the week you will be frustrated, or more likely you will pretend. The same is true about Christian Community. It exists as potential (because Christ has opened the door for a whole different level of relationship), but without intentionality, attention and time it simply exists as a vague, sort of ‘out there’ thing. It reminds me of people singing ‘give peace a chance’ – its a great idea, but peace requires more than a song. Christian community requires more than the desire for it. It means that I will make myself available for relationships. I will not constantly ruminate ‘how come no one invited me over?’ or all the other waiting and longing for attention maneuvers human beings tend to make regarding relationships. Be forewarned – in a few weeks I will be preaching on the relationship between maturity and Christian community. Now for something different….

Worship

I am concerned about our worship. For most of the twenty-one years we have been a church this has been one of our strengths as a congregation.  I believe we have faltered in the past few years. I want to take responsibility for that. There is an old saying that goes ‘if you want to cook an omelet you need to break some eggs.’ However sometimes the omelet ends up looking rather messy. Over the past two years we’ve tried some new things in worship, and not all of those experiments have turned out the way I wanted them to turn out. I don’t really believe that blame is all that helpful, but if you need to blame someone – please blame me. I am the pastor, and I am responsible for worship, pastoral care, the preaching and teaching of the church. (even if I don’t necessarily do all of it).

When an area of church life isn’t going well, its rather like a slow leak in a tire. You don’t really know your in trouble until it goes flat. I think our worship needs several things. And please read carefully what I have to say about this: One, we need to pray for worship. Its easy to criticize this thing or that thing. Its easy to complain about style or volume levels, or whatever. Moses dealt with an unrelenting pattern of complaint from people who had witnessed some of the greatest miracles and mighty acts of God recorded in all of scripture. (See Exodus 5:20-21; 6:9-12; 14:11-12; 15:24; 17:1-7, 32). But worship is a spiritual offering. Good worship, whatever the style, is worship in which the Spirit of God is active and free to move and work among the people (principally because the people gathered welcome the Spirit and earnestly desire His presence). Good worship is worship that glorifies Jesus Christ, and lifts Him up. Good worship comes from hearts that are filled with the good things which God has deposited in us. It is easy to be distracted if the worship style gets in the way, or unfamiliarity with the songs gets in the way – but at the end of the day we cannot allow these distractions to take us away from how central worship is to our life as a congregation. Open your heart and listen to Peter’s words: ⁵ you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…⁹you are a chosen race, a royal a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. ,

Getting back to the heart of worship

There is a worship song, which we have sung for years – ‘The Heart of Worship‘ by Matt Redman. “The song dates back to the late 1990s, born from a period of apathy within Matt’s home church, Soul Survivor, in Watford, England. Despite the country’s overall contribution to the current worship revival, Redman’s congregation was struggling to find meaning in its musical outpouring at the time.

“There was a dynamic missing, so the pastor did a pretty brave thing,” he recalls. “He decided to get rid of the sound system and band for a season, and we gathered together with just our voices. His point was that we’d lost our way in worship, and the way to get back to the heart would be to strip everything away.”

Reminding his church family to be producers in worship, not just consumers, the pastor, Mike Pilavachi, asked, “When you come through the doors on a Sunday, what are you bringing as your offering to God?”

Matt says the question initially led to some embarrassing silence, but eventually people broke into a cappella songs and heartfelt prayers, encountering God in a fresh way.

“Before long, we reintroduced the musicians and sound system, as we’d gained a new perspective that worship is all about Jesus, and He commands a response in the depths of our souls no matter what the circumstance and setting. ‘The Heart of Worship’ simply describes what occurred.”

When the music fades, all is stripped away, and I simply come / Longing just to bring something that’s of worth that will bless your heart… / I’m coming back to the heart of worship, and it’s all about You, Jesus” (From an article on Crosswalk.com – Song Story: Matt Redman’s “The Heart of Worship”)

Through out the summer months we are attempting to simplify and get back to the heart of worship. We are self-consciously de-emphasizing the accompaniment and focusing on singing. We are very carefully choosing songs that we know are familiar and looking to renew the simple act of singing as a congregation. This, by the way does not make it worship. However, I do think we need to restore a level of confidence in the church when it comes to worship – but just improving the level of participation doesn’t solve the problem of weak worship. That is a spiritual. Worship that is full of the life of God involves full on participation, but it is more than that. It involves brothers and sisters coming together in a spirit of gratitude, praise and adoration to worship the One who is so deserving, so beautiful and so worthy! Expectation of the One whom we adore is vital. Anticipation of the Spirit’s presence is vital. If you follow my thoughts here what I am saying is the condition of the worshiper coming to worship has so much to do with the outcome.

Owning worship

The second thing, if you haven’t caught on is this – we need to see worship and its importance as our individual responsibility. God will honor our hearts in this. He will respond quickly to the tender hearted obedience of the church. If we as a body decide – ‘we are going to have great corporate worship‘ then I believe God will honor that intention and meet us in our faith. I acknowledge that we haven’t been consistent as a worship team in leading in worship. But as much as it depends upon me I promise you that we are committed to renewing our Sunday corporate worship.

Send in your requests….

I invite you LOG folks to send Ben an email (benjaminjstamper@gmail.com) with your favorite worship songs. We want to sing the music that people want to sing, music that lifts and blesses while at the same time exalting and bringing glory to God. I really think that one of the things we need to do is encourage each other to take a certain degree of ownership in the worship.

The simplicity of the essential

There really are a simple set of things which make our life together as a church glorious. Acts 2:42-47 deliniate them: ⁴²And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. ⁴³And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. ⁴⁴And all who believed were together and had all things in common. ⁴⁵And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. ⁴⁶And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. Before I mention the four things that are spoken of here let me say a word about Luke’s choice of wording here: The word ‘devotion’ is a Greek word which means to be ’steadfastly attentive unto, to give unremitting care to a thing’. It is different than passion, which is wonderful and very important, but lets face it  – passion ebbs and flows. Devotion is more like a discipline of the mind. The early church was characterized by ‘a steadfast attention’ to apostolic teaching. The people were committed to placing themselves under the teaching of the Word. They were faithful to fellowship. They made time for each other, and they opened their homes to one another. They broke bread together. This either refers to the regular practice of the Lord’s Table (and worship) or to sharing meals regularly. I think that this is likely a reference to Eucharistic worship – and so I take this to mean the people were committed to their times of corporate worship, which centered around the Lord’s table. And finally they were faithful in their commitment to prayer, and especially prayer together.  These are not difficult conceptually. Steadfast commitment to be under apostolic teaching, faithfulness in sharing our lives, in worshiping together and in praying together. Can we do this? Well let me say that many of us have done this – even if we have faltered from time to time. But we must aim for this to be the norm for all of us. The church must be renewed again, and again. It doesn’t reach renewal stasis and then stay there. Spiritual entropy is a reality. If we do not regularly, and personally renew our commitment to the life of the church then it slowly, over time things begin to unravel. And when I say the ‘life of the church’ I’m really talking about the life of God in the church.

Do you know how fragile a local church is? I heard just a few days ago this statistic: 1500 pastors leave the ministry every month. That’s 1500 churches being impacted every month. How many of those churches don’t make it? Remember that only 40 years after the resurrection of Jesus churches were struggling. Nearly every congregation has serious problems – from the craziness in the Corinthian church, to the lukewarmness of the Laodician church. Why are churches fragile? Because we are fragile. The life of a congregation flows from its genuine connection to Jesus.  Our connections to one another are a principal means by which we experience the life of God. May Christ inspire us to roll up our sleeves and cultivate and care for this holy temple which is the church.

In all my experience as a pastor I’ve only been involved with anything resembling this on a few occassions. I’ve been in tons of planning meetings, and idea sessions and various and sundry attempts at launching various ‘ministry’ things, but very few occassions of what took place here in Acts 13. One of the most powerful experiences of this occurred on my first or second trip to Brazil. In a meeting very similiar to the one described here in Acts 13 – a group of leaders did virtually the same thing in setting apart Rick Widner form ministry in Brazil.

A little over a month ago I had a similiar experience here at LOG. After taking time away to pray and seek the Lord it began to dawn on me that we needed to do a similar thing (as in Acts 13) here at Lamb. You may recall seeing an email which Kevin Houk sent out around that time for the purpose of gathering those who were interested in seeing what the Holy Spirit was up to in the area of domestic missions, i.e. what’s the Lord doing right here in our back yard in terms of reaching people for Christ.The meeting that came out of that email was wonderful. We gathered, and I shared a brief look at Acts 13, Kevin Houk led us in a time of prayer and we spent a good chunk of time just crying out to the Lord for his grace to hear him, and then the faith to obey what He showed us that He wanted us to do. We set our hearts on fasting and seeking the Lord for the purpose of knowing what He was after in terms of outreach. We decided after the meeting that we would take several weeks to pray and fast and then come back together again.

I asked Kevin Houk if he would take leadership over this ‘project’ (or whatever you want to call it). He heartily agreed. If you don’t know it, you certainly should – Kevin and Angela are full of fire for reaching lost people – its a wonderful burden that burns in their hearts. I really admire them for their commitment to be missional in every area of their lives. Anyway, after quite a bit of juggling schedules Kevin finally managed to get us back together again for a meeting, one which occurred a few weeks ago. This meeting was different than the first, at least in part because I think we didn’t really know quite what to do. When you try and sincerely operate by asking the Holy Spirit what He wants to do, you really have to wait and see what He says. We are still in the process of figuring that out. But I want to share what came out of that second (and certainly not the last) ‘domestic missions’ meeting.

One of the things I suggested was that we think about where we saw the grace of God already at work, and then ask the question ‘what would God have us do in regards to what is right in front of our faces?’ A bunch of wonderful things came out of that question, and only one of them resembled an ‘idea’ (I’m kidding, but what I mean is that all of the things we mentioned were actually already happening, and only one was a new ‘idea’). First, there is a group of kids from the neighborhood where the Houks, Scott Blauch and Jason Robinson and the Pursley’s live in East Orange that have been regularly coming to the Houk’s home. Over 20+ different kids have been in the backyard or around the house interacting with the Houks. There have been many different things Kevin and Angela have done just to open their hearts to the kids that come around. It dawned on us as we were together taking about ‘domestic mission’ and listening to the Holy Spirit that we needed to respond to this obvious example of a place where grace was already flowing. At this point we are asking the Spirit – what would you have us do along side what is already taking place? Please contact Angela at her email (lambofgod.ahouk@gmail.com) if you are interested in knowing how you can be involved

Next, we listened to Jeff Demarco talk about what God has been doing through the Thursday night Bible Study that he has been running at his home. It has become a gathering place for all kinds of young people. It has also been a place where those seeking to know more about Jesus can come and hang out. Once again – it seemed obvious to us that God was already working here, already pouring out grace and that we needed to simply ask the question – What is the Spirit saying that we should be doing along side of Jeff and Amie regarding this work? Several things emerged – one, being the willingness to help them in preparing for this gathering on Thursdays (cooking, helping Amie to clean and prepare for the numbers who show up to eat and fellowship) as well as Friday morning helping Amie with the clean-up following the meeting on Thursdays. There are other things as well, and Jeff has lots of suggestions in this regard. Feel free to call or email (refinedautorefinishing@gmail.com)him.

Next Jeff mentioned a growing set of relationships with kids and cars in the area and the emergence of a ministry aimed at getting kids from his neighborhood together to work on their cars and to reach out to them for the sake of Jesus. We even thought of asking Uncle Vinnie (Dahmen) to bring his giant brain full of car knowledge to bear on something like this (as well as his giant heart for the gospel). Once more – ‘what is the Spirit saying to us?’

Rebecca Houk shared her heart for a nursing home in her area, and the burden she felt the Lord had placed on her to go their and begin to reach out to the old folks. She had already been once and had experience a blessing as she simply got involved with the residents. Once again – ‘what is the Holy Spirit calling us to do’ The grace of God is already flowing in Rebecca’s zeal and willingness to step out – what is He saying to others? Email (rkhdancer@yahoo.com) her if you want to be involved.

Then there was the burden that both Ben and I have been experiencing regarding the food pantry at Lamb. We know that 3 Wednesday’s a month people line up outside the church to get food. We also know that there is no effort to do anything more than hand out food. It occurred to us that we could open up the back door of the church, offer coffee and donuts and prayer for anyone who came who wanted to stop in. Sometime in the next few weeks Ben and I are going to start do this on Wednesday mornings. (Contact Ben if your are interested in participating at benstamper@hotmail.com)

Since having that meeting we also heard that Seton Beckwith, Marie Teresa, and several others are going to the women’s jail in Newark to minister to incarcerated women. Wow! That is so cool. God is answering out prayers (the ones we have been praying for the past 3 years). We haven’t seen revival yet, but we are seeing the Spirit stirring and churring the hearts of his people to fulfill the missio dei, the mission of God.

In less than two months we will send a team of 5 LOG guys off to the Amazon. In July we will send out a group of our kids to Belfast to minister among the youth of Belfast. These are things over which we can rejoice and be exceedingly glad.

Pray to the Lord of the harvest

Jesus spoke these words to the disciples regarding reaching people: (36) When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (37) Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; (38) therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

How should we apply a scripture like this to our own times? Is the harvest plentiful? It doesn’t seem that way, but perhaps if Jesus were speaking directly to us He might have added, “if you know where to look.” I have some ideas about this, but I am going to begin with what I think might be the most obvious place to look – our children.

The Children of Believers don’t automatically become Christians

We are a church with many children, and more on the way. These kids are a field ripe for harvest. Of course the first and most important workers whom Jesus sends to the field are parents. We shoulder a huge responsibility to raise and nurture our children in the fear and the admonition of the Lord. Nothing can replace this. God calls mothers and fathers to love their children, and to demonstrate viability of the Christian way of life (If it doesn’t work in our homes, they will have a hard time believing it anywhere). This is a big calling. Our children see us as we are, not as we want to be. They are witnesses to our hypocrisy and to our integrity. This audience is the one in which we live out the reality or lack of reality to our faith.

It takes a village to raise a child

Someone coined this phrase a few years ago and I know it sort of annoyed some people. But it is a valid statement in so far as it relates to the church community. We, to some degree or another, share in the task of modeling for our children the substance of the Christian way. Here is where I believe we as a church must become a great deal more skilled and intentional. We have this lovely crop of children, and they are open and in a place where we can shape and form their hearts – but it will require commitment, consistency and passion to reach this field, ripe for harvest. We must become a church where children’s ministry is not an after thought but a place where children’s ministry is treated as critical and given the very best we have to offer. This means that we endeavor to create a teaching enviroment filled with the very best we can deliver. I feel very strongly about this – we should give our kids the most creative, well-planned, engaging, fun and spiritual experience that we possibly can. We want our kids to form a positive association with church, one which will instill in them the great value of being part of a church community their whole lives. Remember that the drop out rate is huge for kids when they get to college. Our goal it to lead them to Jesus and to teach them that it is in the context of a Christian community that the fullness of our life in Christ is to be lived out. It starts with engaging their hearts while they are young – this is something that loving, committed Sunday School teachers can make a huge contribution towards.

In the coming months you are likely to hear more about where we want to take things relative to our kids. Its really simple – we have a season… it is a time in which we can excercise a huge positive influence over the kids which God has given to us as a church. We can roll up our sleeves, come along side Noelle and offer to help her make our Sunday school the very best that it can be. Noelle is an immensely capable and creative person. She is however not capable of doing this all by herself. She needs a team of teachers who will share a vision of a great ministry to children. Here is a harvest field which we can reach. Here is a place where love and service will yield an incredible result. Here, for anyone who has the heart to do it is an opportunity to lead kids to Jesus, to effect their eternal destiny.

p.s. Let me give huge props to Doug Estes who has labored for many years to give the very best that he has to kids in teaching and leading the sunday school. We would have nothing without him!

One of the things that really touched me was the straightforward, unadorned manner in which Benard spoke of extraordinary wonders he had witnessed in his ministry. I don’t know if every one caught all the things Benard said during his sharing (he did have a pretty strong accent), but he made some pretty amazing claims. One in particular that I had never heard anyone visiting Lamb of God make – that being that he had witnessed a person being raised from the dead. I’ve heard that claim made before, but I’ve never actually met anyone who claimed to have seen it as an eyewitness. I don’t know about you, but that pretty much tops my list of things that are amazing to the point of being almost beyond belief.

What do we do with a claim like that? First of all Benard didn’t make the claim that he heard about this, he made the claim that he witnessed it. Remember, Benard is part of Campus Crusade for Christ – not Pentacostal Pete’s traveling miracle show. Campus Crusade for Christ is a highly credible ministry, with integrity and a long history of doing good work wherever they go. I personally think the late Bill Bright to be one of the greatest visionaries for Jesus of the last 100 years (He also was a mentor to my beloved pastor Ray Nethary). One thing about Dr. Bright is that he had faith to believe God for great things. In many respects what we heard from Benard regarding authority in Jesus were things I’m certain he learned from Bill Bright’s legacy. Did you notice how Benard grounded everything he said in the word? Did you notice how he quoted scripture freely, and that the way he interpreted it was completely consistent with what orthodox Christianity believes. There was nothing crazy, or “extreme” in what he said about healing, or spiritual authority. However, that leaves me with a problem… What is wrong with us?

In many third world settings Jesus appears to be confirming his truth with signs and wonders. I do not doubt this. I also believe that many people are being won to Jesus as a result of these signs and wonders. This was Benard’s observation. Did you notice in almost every story there was word of many, many converts to Jesus? I also believe that to be the truth. But it makes me sad and slightly ashamed of Christianity in the U.S. Why is God holding back power from us? Are we so self-reliant, so cynical and unbelieving that “Jesus can do no mighty works because of our unbelief?” I am praying for this to change. In fact I think it would not be extreme to say that I have staked my future on the confidence that God will act on behalf of his people for the sake of His Son. But is sure is hard waiting. What are your thoughts?

In John 3 Jesus utters some of the most well known words found any where in the Bible. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus made it plain that entrance into the Kingdom required something profound in terms of the interior life of a human being. If one is to relate to God, and his world (which includes the earth, but is much larger than the earth alone) then they will need a newness within, what scripture calls a new heart. This is not simply a new idea, or a new system of thought, or a new attitude. Jesus was speaking of a level of newness that means transformation at the deepest level of our motivations, our will, our emotions, and our thoughts. He was speaking of something to which the O.T. prophets pointed with great hope: Ezekial 36: (25)I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. (26) And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (27) And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. However, I wonder – Do we really believe it is true and that we must relate to one another on the basis of this “new identity?”

Let me site two very difficult cases; Karla Faye Tucker and David Berkowitz. In 1983, 23 year old Karla Faye Tucker broke into the home of some aquaintances and brutally murdered two people with a pick axe. Karla’s crime was particularly cruel and heartless. Later, she bragged to others about having committed these murders. In 1984 at an evangelistic outreach in the prison, where she was being held, Karla responded to an invitation to come forward and give her life to Christ. Do you believe that Karla Faye Tucker, brutal murderer was transformed? Everyone who observed her over the next 10 years said that she was a different person. In 1998 Karla Faye was put to death for those crimes.

David Berkowitz was the notorious Son of Sam Killer. In the late 70’s Son of Sam terrorized NYC by randomly killing 6 people and wounding several more. He brazenly taunted the police in letters mailed to the newspaper as his rampage continued. When he was caught he fabricated stories about the next door neighbor’s dog having “commanded” him to commit these murders. Nearly 10 years later, an inmate approached David in the yard and told him that God loved him and that Jesus could save and transform David. He scoffed and told the young man, “there is no way God could love someone like me, I’ve done so much evil theres no way He could forgive me.” The young man persisted and built a friendship with David over the next several weeks and months. He gave David a Bible and one night He read these words from Psalm 34: (6) This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. David said that tears suddenly filled his eyes and he felt compelled to get on his knees and cry out to the Lord Jesus for help. From that day forward, according to David Berkowitz he was a transformed man. Do you believe it?

One of the things which is so challenging for us as followers of Jesus is how many people we see who make this claim to be “born again” and yet end up doing and saying things that are ridiculously hypocritical. The failings of those who allege themselves to be Christians is one of those distressing realities plaguing the church. I wonder if our own weak-kneed experience with Christ’s transforming power is part of the reason for so little courage and boldness in sharing the gospel with others. I wonder if some Christains think – I don’t feel I’ve gotten very far in my “new birth,” maybe there really isn’t much change possible in this life. Maybe it will only be in the life to come that real transformation will come. But so many places in the N.T. encourage us to believe that change of a significant degree is possible for the person who will really give themselves to Jesus. “If any many be in Christ, he is a new creation. Behold old things have passed away, new things have come.” I also think that believing in the new birth transforms how we are to relate to one another. Doesn’t the new birth say – “we can never relate to one another as though we were our sins.” We must always believe the best about one another, believe that change is possible and hope and pray for God to work. We cannot condemn and we cannot render “final” judgment about our brothers and sisters, but instead we keep looking and hoping in Christ’s transforming power. That is the gospel I want to believe in, and share with others. The one that takes a brutal murderer like Karla Faye Tucker and turns her around. A gospel that takes a notorious serial killer like David Berkowitz and turns him into a gentle man living out a life sentence serving other prisoners for the sake of Christ.Share your thoughts…

Here is a link to a video of Karla’s testimony – Karla Faye Tucker

Here is a link to a 20 minute video on David Berkowitz which includes his personal testimony – David Berkowitz  The video link is in the right hand column on the page under the heading “Online Video”

Does it blow your mind that Jesus comes to us through these relationships? That as we pray with and for each other, as we encourage, correct, listen, worship together, serve and admonish one another Jesus is made manifest. Someday we will see the Risen Jesus face to face, that is a glorious dimension of the Blessed Hope we have in Christ. But until that day so much of His life is mediated to us through the sharing of our own lives. This is why we are told to speak the truth to one another. It is the sharing of our real lives, with all the inadequacies, insecurities and weakness that Christ becomes present. It is because of this that Paul challenges us to be knit together in love. It is as we allow our lives to be knit together that we begin to experience dimensions of the person of Christ that cannot be experienced in any other way. I believe that the heart of God breaks when he surveys how many of us live lonely lives, lives of boredom, lives of drugery and even despair all because we are not being knit together with others. I also believe that all around us are relationships broken from neglect, betrayal, abuse, and even by cruelty. Where is the hope of redemption for all this brokeness? Where is the possibility of change and restoration? It is through Christ, his very presence manifested in loving relationships, in patient endurance and faithfulness. Paul says that in Christ are hidden all the riches of knowledge and wisdom. He also says that it is by being knit together in love that we are able to reach those riches. I believe that God very much wants to pour out a powerful refreshing of his Son’s life in the church, and that refreshment, that awakening to the supremacy of Christ will lead us back to the simplicity of love. And that love will bring many sons and daughters to God. Come Lord Jesus, Come.

N.T. Wright’s message called: Simply Christian. Some are saying that the book from which these lectures comes also called “Simply Christian” will become a classic in the same way that C.S. Lewis’ work “Mere Christianity” has become a classic. You may learn more about Bishop N.T. Wright by visiting: N.T. Wright

I also want to recommend the inspiring teaching of Mike Bickle. Mike is a revivalist and a remarkable preacher. He has many different series from which to choose, but I highly recommend giving a listen to his four part series entitled Surprised by Desire. Mike is the founder of a remarkable ministry in Kansas called The International House of Prayer.

My very favorite writer is Dallas Willard. He has written several books I consider to be some of the most important in Christian literature of the last 50 years. The Divine Conspiracy, The Renovation of the Heart and The Spirit and the Disciplines are must reads, as far as I am concerned. Dallas is also a great teacher and there are a number of his audio teachings available to which I would like to direct your attention.

What does it mean to be human.

The genius of Jesus.

The nature and necessity of worldviews.

Finally, I want to commend a talk on evangelism by Tim Keller. While this teaching is one which will require several listenings to fully absorb I believe you will be greatly edified by taking the time to drink in fully what Tim is teaching in this material. It is really important. I put a link to this message in a an earlier blog entry, but I will include it again with the additional encouragement to take the time to listen to it. I believe it is very important in light of what God is doing in the church right now. (For example in our Tuesday and Thursday morning prayer meetings we are praying for 50 new converts between March 2007 and March 2008). Here is the link once again. Keller on Evangelism

But what about us. How do we wrestle with this? I hope you will take a moment to leave a comment about how you see this.

I have been meditating on a scripture that has really been stirring my heart: 1 Thess. 5:14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. I have been taken by the scope of these three things “admonishing the idle,” “encouraging the fainthearted,” and “helping the weak.” Each of these activites “admonishing, encouraging and helping” share something in common which is incredibly challenging. They require a serious commitment to be in relationship with others. Without that commitment we end up with something that doesn’t rise much above the level of throwing a few coins in a Salvation Army Christmas Bucket. I keep hearing when I read this passage from Thessolonians the same thing – I must give myself to others in a way that permits these things to occur. If I do not really enter into people’s lives how can I ever admonish or be admonished in ways that will really bring life?

I am ashamed at how superficial we Christians allow most relationships in the church to remain. I know that the people who have touched me deepest have also been willing to get close to me. They have taken time. They have spent it listening to me, and sharing with me the stories of our mutual lives. Is there any other way to bring the hope of Jesus deeply into people’s lives without doing this? Share with me what you think.

The story continues with Jesus ministering to the boy and of a complete and total deliverance from this demonic affliction. Later the disciples ask Jesus: “Why could we not cast it out?” To this question Jesus replied: “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” There are some situations which cannot be dealt with in the ordinary means you are used to employing under these circumstances. Jesus had demonstrated to the disciples how his ministry was accomplished. They had employed those same actions in other situations and were successful in helping people. But here, with this particular young person they were not able to do it. Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones preaching on this passage in the late 50’s suggested that it was a picture of what the church was up against in bringing the gospel to a post-Christian west. People were in a sense “innoculated” against receiving the gospel. They knew a little, and that little was enough to keep them from actually listening to the gospel.

I believe that what Dr. Jones talked about nearly 50 years ago is an apt description of what we face in bringing the good news to those around us. As Jesus told the disciples regarding this particularly troublesome evil spirit – “some only come out with much prayer.” We are alive in a time when there are strong idols vying for the hearts of young people. In a generation riddled with broken families there is a hunger for love and acceptance that makes this generation particularly vulnerable to the idolatry of romantic love. “If only” I could find the right person everything would be okay. It sounds so right. But it is a lure that if swallowed can be the reason a person will not be able to follow Christ. Jesus said that no one can serve God and money, that he or she will in actuality chose one or the other, but not both. He could have said the same thing about this generation and the need for love. The desperate need to be accepted, loved and valued can cause a person to give themselves to relationships that take them away from Christ. I believe that this is, for many young people, the idol which will have to be smashed if there is be any real hope of authentic Christianity.

And this leads me back to Jesus statement to the disciples; “some only come out with much prayer.” We desperately need a faithful body of intercessors who will lay the prayer ground cover for evangelism and discipleship. We are not simply “instructing” people in how to do steps 1-3 that will lead to a holy life. We are wrestling against powers and principalities in the heavenly places. We are engaging in spiritual warefare on behalf of a generation. We are waging a prayer war which cannot be ignored or minimized. I believe that what Jesus told the disciples in Mark 9 is a word we must embrace for ourselves and for this generation. What do you think?

One of the things which we are planning (Kevin H., Jeff D and yours truly) is to put together a series of training opportunities to help us gain a better grasp of the obstacles and difficulties which people have with understanding the gospel. Even though we believe that salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9), we understand that we must be ready to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). More than anything we want to get folks together who want to be more confident when it comes to sharing Christ, and share together the wisdom which we believe God is pouring out on us (in answer to persistant prayer). If we were sending a team to Africa, or South America we would expect them to enter into the culture and to use every means to understand and communicate the gospel. We do not have the luxary of doing things differently here in the U.S. We will need to think and learn how to communicate Christ in ways that people understand. That doesn’t mean watering the gospel down until it is palitable to people. What it means is communicating as clearly as we possibly can the message of the gospel. I am excited! I hear things in the church I haven’t heard for a long time. I hear a rumbling in the body of something powerful that God is doing. I pray that God is stirring your heart! If you want a slice of some of the things God is teaching us about evangelism click here