God redeems His creation,
despite its fallenness,
and reconciles us to Himself,
despite our brokenness.
Repost: I Want More Religion (Part 1)
One of the biggest lies you hear these days among the “hip” crowd goes like this: It’s not about religion, but a relationship.
Love and Evil
Like the gnostic Marcion in the early church, some still elevate their own sensibilities over Scripture by denying that God’s righteous wrath and gracious love are fully compatible.
See Beyond Scripture? (Part 3)
Resurrection Power and Water Baptism
The Resurrection Power of New Life
This weekend, I met with one of several fellowships in our county that’s primarily comprised of men who surrendered to Jesus while in jail.
They are now out, and meeting weekly in different gatherings as they encourage, support and move forward together in the Lord.
Because they came to the Lord in jail, many of these men did not have an opportunity to be water baptized quickly after conversion. Some ended up serving the Lord – and the State of Virginia! – in jail for several years after becoming believers, and were only recently released.
As a result, they now want – and need – to be water baptized.
Repost: Following God’s Presence
I am more at home in a jail cell, than in a church sanctuary.
Grace at Work
Among those I hang with, the unflinching ministry of confession and forgiveness brings freedom, and repentance produces maturity and wholeness.
See A False Love
Repost: Postmodern Idolatry
Will we submit to the spirit of this age, or the rock of ages?
An older, but timely, blog.
Glasses
In this journey of faith and fellowship, I keep coming across books and blogs by authors who decry this or that perspective in the Body of Christ, while then arguing that we must see things through the glasses of their own unique perspective – often under very enticing rhetoric.
In essence, their books and blogs express unrealistic aspirations – as they promote some theoretical concept of church and community that looks, thinks and acts just like them.
If truth be told, we’re all guilty – to some extent – of trying to do the same thing.
Neil Cole on Institutional Church
Critique of the Center Church by Tim Keller [Part 3], by Neil Cole
I like Tim Keller’s books. We even went to the same seminary and share many similar influences. But Neil Cole provides a needed critique on Keller’s latest book, which views churches as institutions.
Crossroad Nugget
God created us with both meaning and purpose. Some, however, want the passivity of “being”, without the intentionality of “becoming”.
“Why Don’t Matter. What Matters.”—Wisdom from Rose
Wow. An amazing blog…
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
–The Serenity Prayer, Reinhold Neibuhr.‘
‘Why’ don’t matter. ‘What’ matters.
–Rose Wilkins.
When I was a boy growing up in Arkansas, the most important person in my life, in very real ways, was Rose. Now, I have written about Rose before; she was our “colored” (that was the phrase) “maid” (so was that), but she was so much more than our colored maid. She was really the woman who raised me on a day-to-day basis, at least for my childhood years. Only about 30 years old herself, with a half-dozen kids of her own, active in her church and in the local chapter of the NAACP, she nonetheless gave much of her very great energy and faith to raising the Clark…
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Arrogance
Sex abuse and cover up: C.J. Mahaney and Sovereign Grace Ministries, Frank Viola and his band of “apostolic workers”, Bill Gothard and his Institute of Basic Life Principles… When will we ever learn?
Predatory Grooming in Our Churches
Two Recent Blogs Worth Reading
I’m recovering from a heart operation, so I’m taking it slow right now.
In the meantime, here are two blogs with timely insight on two very different but important issues – but both with broader implications:
Depreciating Humanity: The Importance of Being Best at Being Right, by Thad Norvell
Despite multiple witnesses who’ve confirm a history of sex abuse and exploitation within Sovereign Grace Ministries under C.J. Mahaney, several of his friends and national leaders came out supporting him.
By way of disclosure, Nathan’s Voice (a ministry of our fellowships) – and Marianne and I – know and have been involved in helping some of the victims of leadership abuse at SGM, so we’ve seen the carnage up close and personal.
In his blog about the SGM scandal, Norvell says:
I fear those public statements [of support for C.J. Mahaney] reflect the private thoughts of men who, whether by will or ignorance, are clustering around the spoils of the proud when their calling is to be of a lowly spirit with the poor and oppressed. Even if Mahaney is a victim of some false accusations, his rush back to the platform and the efforts of his friends to protect his place at the head table ought to prompt some deep, Gospel-driven questions about how insulated some of these men seem to be from the thousands of sincere, Gospel-loving followers of Jesus they lead, formally and informally.
As our own fellowships have confronted the history of sex abuse by Frank Viola in the organic church community, and watched the desperate efforts by those who are “clustering around the spoils of the proud” by defending him to protect their “movement” and their own status, we see the same thing happening.
I wept as I read Norvell’s blog. Change the names, but the story’s the same. I’ve seen it time and time again.
When will we ever learn?
It’s sad. Very, very sad…
Why do Word of Faith Christians Become Jaded?, by Eric Hyde
“After years of involvement with [Word of Faith] thinking this is often what the believer is left with – a unidirectional love affair with God where God does all the active-loving (i.e. ‘works’) and the believer does all the receiving. The trouble, of course, is this simply doesn’t work (and, it’s incredibly boring). God is not in the unidirectional love business.”
Ditto, it seems to me, with the faddish hyper-grace movement.
~ Jim
Trust
Probably at some time in our lives we have all wondered what it means to trust the Lord.
Trust can be elusive. It is not something that we magically create, but it is something that the Lord develops in us over time. It usually requires walking through difficult circumstances for the Lord to implant trust in us.
I believe that trusting God is like bungee jumping. You jump as a choice of your will, while you are connected to a large elastic, bungee cord. In the same way, we trust as a choice of our will while we are connected to the Lord.
For those who enjoy bungee jumping, the thrill and excitement come from the jump and the resultant rebound. Often when the Lord asks us to trust Him, it is difficult to experience the joy and the excitement that could be ours if we are willing to jump with abandon.
Yup…
“If you want to know who the true Christians are, ask the poor, the imprisoned and oppressed. They will tell you.” ~ Gandhi
Breaking Out
What is the church and it’s purpose, what is God’s grand design, and what is our calling in Christ?
Talking about those questions often is muddled by all the either/or, false dichotomies touted by various voices in the Body of Christ who want:
- the Living Word without the authority of His written Word
- grace without transformation
- relationship without discipleship
- fellowship without accountability
- favor without sacrifice
It often seems that these either/or false dichotomies are rooted in the prevailing existential, post-modern perspective of this age – which heavily influences many Christians and seems to stunt us from growing up and reaching out.
This produces a very self-content, “I’m OK, you’re OK” mentality that seldom breaks out of its insular cocoons.
With them, Jesus seems little more than a friend with benefits.
Crossroad Nugget
Without virtue, liberty is impossible.
Elitist Racism
Elitism and racism in the Body of Christ are very ugly things. Lately, they’ve reared their ugly heads in some very nasty ways that hit close to home.
Over the last several months, we’ve been promoting Crossroad Junction through some very limited, non-targeted ads by Facebook on Facebook.
During the same period, we also have received a high percentage of new followers from the Philippines and other overseas places. Whether it’s due to those ads or not, we don’t know.
Regardless, this heightened overseas interest is not due to any directed or targeted effort on our part, and Marianne and I are thrilled to connect with other believers from across the globe.
Now, however, our increasing readership is provoking a very elitist and racist series of attacks – directed against us, our fellowships, and our new Filipino followers.
Some of our Filipino brothers and sisters have seen those attacks, and have been deeply offended.
In the face of those attacks, I want welcome to you to our blog – and offer my apologies for the ugly efforts by some of my countrymen to discredit you by questioning your motives and capacity to follow the somewhat intellectual and substantive articles found here.
Real Grace
Facebook seems to be a hot bed for the new distorted view of “grace”.
The other day someone posted that through grace, God finds our sin acceptable. He thus no longer “deals” with sin in our lives – and we are free of sin – because it no long exists.
According to their “logic”, sin ceases to an issue in our lives because it ceases to be considered sin by God.
That neat theological sleight of hand was followed by lots of “likes” and “amens”.
To deny the reality of sin and its bondage – and to say God doesn’t deal with sin in our lives or that we are free of sin – is an abuse of grace.
Bart Breen and Frank Viola – Lies, Sex Abuse and Cover Up
Last updated 1/10/2015
Lately, some guy named Bart Breen has been attacking, with increasingly shrill and outlandish behavior, anyone who dares expose the history of sexual abuse and cover-up in a cult he’s involved with.
Bart Breen: Stalker
That cult centers around author and so-called “apostolic worker” Frank Viola, who has used his position and influence to sexually prey upon and exploit teenagers and other young women.
Rather than protect folks from Frank Viola’s misconduct, Mr. Breen and their network of self-appointed “apostles” at House2House Ministries (including Felicity Dale, Jon Zens, Milt Rodriquez, Keith Giles and Ken Eastburn) have engaged in an ongoing campaign of intimidation and cover up.
Bogus Press Releases and Stalking My Wife
In all my years helping church abuse victims as an attorney (now retired) and as a local church elder, I have never seen anything as nasty or as vicious as the cultish efforts by House2House – and its mutual promotion network of self-appointed “apostles” – to attack and personally destroy anyone who dares reference their history of abuse and cover up.
It is ongoing and gotten so bad that Bart Breen, a frequent House2House Magazine co-contributor who is associated with a struggling Frank Viola affiliated “church” near us, has been stalking my wife while also putting out false blogs and press releases in a desperate attempt to silence me.
Crossroad Nugget
Functional elders trump dysfunctional “apostles” any day of the week. They are, in fact, the worst nightmare of – and the best protection against – self-proclaimed and detached whomevers roaming among God’s people.
Discombobulating Fellowship
Lately, I’ve been hearing more and more from folks who are frustrated because they are wanting, but not finding, participatory fellowship rooted in ongoing community.
Discombobulated
In our area, we’ve been seen such fellowships emerge over the last several years. Many of my blogs arise from what God is doing among us.
Those fellowships typically involve anywhere from eight to as many as twenty-five people intentionally meeting at least weekly to encourage and minister to one another.
More importantly, folks in those fellowships are relating together and supporting each other throughout the week.
Such fellowships don’t look anything like traditional “church” or even appear on traditional organizational radar screens – often because they are informal (even though intentional) and functioning within communities on the fringes of society.
Rather than come together for directed meetings or spectator “services”, we are learning to allow Christ in us to be expressed among us and through us – both in our gatherings and in existing communities.
Lately, though, things have become somewhat comical as we watch others try to figure us out.
Crossroad Nugget
By the time you analyze, systematize and homogenize the move of God – well, He’s moved on…
Spectator Church
“Years of sitting in traditional church has not prepared us to do church in the manner described in the New Testament. We have been taught to come, to sit, to watch, and to listen to what others have prepared. This is Spectator Church.
By contrast, the church described in the Bible invites us to engage in a kind of Participatory Church, where everybody talks, laughs, eats, worships, in an atmosphere where all learn, all minister, and all grow.
These groups are not cell groups, or even just Home Groups. They are real churches, complete and autonomous.”
~ Graham Cooke and Gary Goodell, Permission Granted to Do Church Differently in the 21st Century
Crossroad Junction 