Why is it so hard for some to grasp that we can express the heart of the Living Word, while still submitting to the truth of His written Word?
Church?
So NOT Church!
“Church” too often means forcing others into our own molds, in order to support the sensibilities and biases of our own cultural perspectives.
In contrast, we have been learning to let “church” emerge in all its splendid diversity, as the life of Christ takes root in the rich soil of different cultures and communities.
See Directed verses Participatory Church: A Dialog.
~ Jim
The Cult of Giftedness
Steubenville and the Misplaced Sympathy for Jane Doe’s Rapists, by Megan Carpentier.
This article addresses a disturbing phenomenon: In America, we have a cultish worship of those who are charming, gifted and inspiring. They are given every benefit of the doubt, and then some.
So it always goes… sympathy and excuses by some for the gifted predator, shame for his “wayward” victim.
As an aside:
Thanks for bearing with us as we take a week or so to focus on these issues. In the Body of Christ, we should be better than this. Unfortunately, we often aren’t.
The Sin of Silence
Leaders who stand conveniently silent – or willfully ignorant – regarding the abuse and exploitation of God’s people by another leader, are idolaters.
Your Silence Abuses The Abused
They sacrifice innocent men, women and children on the altar of their own ease and self interest, which they often justify by their own warped concept of unity and misguided sense of friendship.
Understand that eventually you will be forced to give an account of your silence – not only to God, but in the “here and now” to His people whom you profess to serve.
When that happens, don’t get mad at me for doing what you were unwilling – but obligated – to do as one entrusted to protect His people.
Exposing Abusive Church Leaders
Into the Light: A Series on Abuse and the Church looks like it will be a good series by Rachel Evans on the need to expose abusive church leaders and those who hide the abuse. We need more such voices of courage and resolve.
The recent situation with Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) illustrates this need. Over the years, Marianne and I have seen lives destroyed by one of their churches near us. We tried to raise warnings locally, but they were lost among the outward images of “success” by that church and the charisma of its leading “apostle” and popular author and conference speaker.
Yet behind the scenes, the arrogance of leadership there, and their attitude of being untouchable, was astounding. Fortunately, however, God has a way of protecting His people by eventually exposing such sin, after all opportunities to first confess and repent have been ignored.
I’ve been involved in way too many of these kinds of cases – as a friend, a counselor, a church leader, and even as an attorney. Each one has deeply affected me as I had to come beside the victims and be strong for them, while also unflinchingly standing up to some narcissistic – but always charming yet manipulative – exploitive church leader.
Frank Viola: Feed the Need
Sorry, Frank Viola, but when your “revelation” of Jesus looks a lot like your own sensibilities, I’m not impressed.
And when “deeper life” merely reinforces your own postmodern proclivities, I’m likewise not impressed.
Nor do I find a persistent failure to be a functional part of any healthy, local fellowship – despite all your books and blogs on organic church – to be a virtue.
Really, didn’t you get the memo? Postmodernism and existential angst just ain’t that compelling or counter-cultural anymore.
Gentleness
The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness… Gal 5:22-23 NIV
Webster lists the characteristics of gentleness as being soft, meek, passive, mild, delicate, kind and docile. In Psalm 18:35 David says that the Lord’s “gentleness has made me great.” This seems to be a contradiction. How could the characteristics of gentleness, as defined by Webster, make someone great? Perhaps the Lord’s definition of gentleness implies much more.
I believe that the Lord wants us to be gentle, but His gentleness is not a wishy-washy docility. Gentleness has a hidden core of strength and this core is what makes someone great. Gentleness’ strength runs deep, like the molten lava in a volcanic magma chamber. Tremendous heat transforms hard rock into a flexible, moving force.
Organic Church Leadership (Part 2)
This originally was part of a longer post, which I’ve now split in two. If you haven’t yet, I recommend you first read Part 1.
Small is Beautiful
These days, “small” seems to be the new buzz word – and I generally agree with that focus. When our gatherings become too large, it is impossible for folks to participate in sharing and ministering to each other and freely expressing the life of Christ with one another.
In the New Testament, the imperative to participate – to express the life of Christ in us, among us and through us – extends to our meetings, as well as our throughout-the-week relationships.
I’m not anti-big. There are times when larger gatherings make sense – but not as the main expression of the local Body of Christ, with small groups as mere adjuncts to the big Sunday show or some leader’s grand vision.
Also, if “small” becomes mini one-man shows in someone’s home, community center, jail unit, coffee shop, homeless shelter, work cafeteria or wherever, that misses the whole point.
To keep these problems from happening, we need to restore a proper concept of leadership within the Body of Christ.
Organic Church Leadership (Part 1)
Last night, two other men and I met with one of the indigenous churches some of us helped start in the jail four years ago.
The wonderful, multifaceted Body of Christ
This fellowship is one of several that we have seen emerge in various housing units within the local jail.
That particular church (typically numbering six to eighteen men) has been a powerhouse for God, as the guys have learned to express Christ to one another through open, participatory fellowship.
Literally hundreds of men have come to the Lord because of them, and they’ve been effectively discipling each other in the faith
In addition, many, many other fellowships have sprung forth from them, as the men in that indigenous church – rooted in the specific cultural dynamics present in any jail or prison environment – are then transferred to other units and facilities.
Hip New Things
I tire of everyone with their “new thing”, hip new labels and conference extravaganzas – as they peddle their amazing new book, ministry, “revelation” or program.
Beyond Scripture? (Part 3)
The low view of God in the Old Testament, found among those touting a so-called “Christocentric hermeneutic”, comes from too high a view of themselves.
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
They often take personal offense at how God dealt with humanity in the Old Testament – including His sometimes fierce display of holiness and punishment of sin and rebellion.
So they make God in the Old Testament an aberration. They substitute their own perceptions of Christ – rooted in their post-modern sensibilities – for the totality of Scripture, and make their resulting “Christology” higher revelation than God’s own external Word of Scripture.
They have joined Adam and Eve in choosing the moral autonomy of deciding for themselves what is right and wrong, and have the further hubris of then imposing it on God Himself.
Coming Together
Miguel Labrador
In mid-March, Miguel Labrador will be with several of the fellowships and ministries relating to each other here in Virginia.
We will meet in living rooms, around dining room tables, and even with brothers in the jail to talk about the things of God as we work among ourselves to encourage and strengthen the different churches.
I think this is going to be a significant step for us, especially as some of our key people with a mission orientation come together for intentional, trans-fellowship discussions and to hear what Miguel has to teach us from his own work in the cloud forest region of Ecuador.
Faithfulness
The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness… Gal 5:22 NIV
Faith is a seed the Lord plants in us. Faithfulness is the fruit that develops over the seasons of our life. The fruit of faithfulness requires a long growing season. There is no way to expedite the process.
In the fable of The Tortoise and the Hare, the tortoise demonstrates faithfulness. He keeps on doing what he needs to do, without any fanfare or dramatics. Steadfast, loyal, conscientious, all describe a person who has allowed faithfulness to become ingrained in their life.
Often, the people who are the most faithful receive the least acclaim.
In the Bible, Joseph exemplifies faithfulness. After he was sold to Potiphar, he conscientiously served him and the Lord blessed Potiphar’s household because of Joseph. Joseph did not grumble and complain because he was in Egypt away from his family. He faithfully served in the place the Lord had him.
Letting Go
For most Christians, the greatest struggle is not resisting sin but in being willing to let go of our hurts. More than sin, we allow our hurts to define us, and find it difficult to leave the familiarity of our pain for the unfamiliarity of a truly new life in Christ. Even among Christians, few risk the grace of confession, forgiveness and repentance to become whole and complete in Him.
Really, it’s not that difficult…
Here’s a story of one man’s journey: Getting to Simple.
Chilling Out
We put so much “perfection” and “deeper life” pressure on new believers and fellowships. Let’s just chill out and learn that God delights in meeting us in whatever He uniquely designed us to be and do.
Been Hearing God Lately?
God’s Pleasure
Nearly a year has passed since I’ve been with the very first fellowship I helped start here in Virginia. I’ve missed them dearly.
Last night I got to be with them, share some stories of their beginnings, and convey a sense of God’s special pleasure and love towards them.
We all laughed and listened and talked – and there was life.
Religous Liberty and Parental Rights
German Homeschool Case May Impact U.S. Homeschool Freedom, by Michael Farris:
Michael Farris and I go way back. We worked shoulder to shoulder together in the ’80s on many issues – and have the battle scars to prove it.
For the last several decades, he has been on the forefront of homeschool and religious liberty issues. We would do well to heed his warning.
Crossroad Memes
We’ve added a new feature: A gallery of all the e-cards (called “memes”) posted in the past.
It also will be updated with new e-cards as they’re added, and can be opened anytime by clicking “Memes” on the top menu.
Check it out!
Speaking Truth
Don’t be deceived by books, blogs and misleading biographies from those who make their living telling others how to be the church, but are not living it or ever succeeded at reproducing their grand concepts in any sustainable, healthy fellowship. They do great harm to the Body of Christ.
Dealing with Church Leadership Abuse
A New Good Read
The Super Guru Culture, by Rob Morley.
We need to avoid the tendency to make gurus of those who have helped us through their ministries, and to not set them up where they become untouchable or beyond questioning. It cripples the Body of Christ.
Goodness
The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness… Gal 5:22 NIV
When reading fairy tales or watching movies, good usually triumphs over evil by the end of the story. Often in real life, our desire is for the happily ever after fairy tale ending. But even in movies or fairy tales, the hero or heroine has to overcome many obstacles before they achieve goodness.
God is Good!
The Body of Christ – Toddler Stage
Two new fellowships, comprised of about twenty new believers, stood on their own two feet today.
Two of us did some foundation laying over the last month, but today we just sat back and let ’em go – and they did! We literally had nothing to say, and there was no opportunity to do so even if we wanted.
Life was popping out all over the place among them. They were amazed, but I wasn’t. God moves among us when we let Him. 🙂
Next week, I’m expecting the same with several more new fellowships we’ve been helping to start, comprised also of mainly new believers.
God is good!
~ Jim
Book Hooked
Some do, others write. Some learn to function in committed local fellowships, while others peddle grand theories in books, blogs and conferences. Some live it, while others operate as detached, unaccountable traveling road shows.
Modern Day Pauls?
Another Good Read
Confronting the Error of Hyper-Grace, by Michael Brown:
“The biblical message of grace is wonderful, glorious and life-transforming. We can’t live without it for one second of our lives. But there is a message being preached today in the name of a new grace reformation, mixing powerful truth with dangerous error. I call it hyper-grace…”
Some Good Reads…
Two recent blogs I liked are:
Giving in Simple Church, by Tim Day.
Like Tim, Marianne and I reject the idea that Christians are obligated to tithe or that the tithe carries over into the New Covenant. But like Tim, we still give at least 10% of our income because we feel that’s what God wants of us personally, as we help and serve others.
Tim’s blog provides some very balanced, practical insight on giving.
The Changing Face of Full-Time Ministry, by Alan Knox.
We need to move past the old mentality of “full-time ministry” and realize that we all are ministering Christ full time.
Both of these brothers, and their blogs, should be on your “must read” list.
~ Jim
Crossroad Junction 