Theology and Reality

November 28, 2012 By in Bible, Confession, Doctrine, Faith, Flying, Science, Truth 4 Comments

Miguel Labrador has posted another thought provoking blog, entitled Theology Precedes Practice, Vice Versa, or Something Else?

Keeping Theology and Reality in Balance

In it, he states: “orthodoxy (theology) & orthopraxy (practice) are ‘simultaneous.’” I think he’s right, in the sense that we must seek to keep both in balance – our walk must match our talk, and our talk must match our walk.

Sometimes, however, the Lord allows one or the other – our doctrine or our practice – to be challenged in ways that force us to then adjust the other.

Regardless, it is important to keep them in sync, as much as possible, and not let one get too far ahead of the other.

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The Cultural Implications of the Great Commission

November 15, 2012 By in Culture, Existentialism, Great Commission, Kingdom of God, Politics, Prophetic, Redemption, Society, Sovereignty 18 Comments
The Cultural Implications of the Great Commission

Rob Moley, in his blog Restore the Word, wrote yesterday on “The Great Commission: Discipling Individuals or Nations?”.

In it, he says this about the Great Commission:

Rather than being a command to influence nations with the principles and truths of God’s kingdom, the logic of the command in Matt. 28:19-20 is to make disciples from every nation. Then, as ambassadors of God’s kingdom, these disciples are able to influence all aspects of society, and God willing, even disciple whole nations.

His point is that the Great Commission is about transforming individuals into disciples who obey all that Christ commands, who in turn transform the world around them.

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Election Postmortem

November 8, 2012 By in Bible, Christians, Culture, Gnostic Dualism, Great Commission, Obedience, Postmodern, State 23 Comments
Election Postmortem

Leading up to Tuesday’s elections here in the United States, I often used this blog and Facebook to urge Christians to vote. (See Does Jesus Want You to Vote?)

When I did, I always got heated push back – mainly from other Christians who oppose Biblical civic engagement.

Generally, they think God is only interested our personal relationships with Him, or that He is solely focused on the Church.

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Thanksgiving

November 4, 2012 By in Great Commission, Hospitality, Love 2 Comments

thanksgiving-picture

 

Marianne and I have a plaque in our home which says:
“One who practices hospitality entertains God Himself.”

This week, look around and make an effort to see those who have no family or are going through hard times – then ask if they’d like to share Thanksgiving with you and your family at your home later this month.

This is love.

If you live outside the United States and don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, then use some other time of celebration. You will bless, and be blessed!

Postmodern Idolatry

November 1, 2012 By in Authority, Church, Courage, Doctrine, Postmodern, Sovereignty, Truth 18 Comments

Does God do what is right, or is it right because God does it?

Many think God is subservient or subject to external standards – that He does what is right because there is a higher moral code that even He obeys.

This denies God’s sovereignty, and as a result many today seek to hold Him to the standard of their own sense of right and wrong.

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A Doobie Brothers’ Gospel

October 26, 2012 By in Grace, Sovereignty, Truth 5 Comments

Jesus died on the cross because He accepted me, wholly and completely, just as I am…

By His Grace, He Bids Us Come and Die

So I could die to myself in order to accept Him, wholly and completely, just as He is.

This the true Gospel: Accepting me as I am cost Jesus His life, and accepting Him as He is costs me my life in return.

The mystery of the cross is that we die with Him to find new life in Him – but only on His terms.

Yet if you look at social media sites like Facebook, it seems that many Christians only know a Doobie Brothers’ Gospel.

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Generations

October 21, 2012 By in Church Planting, Great Commission, Kingdom of God, Organic Church 14 Comments

Life reproduces life. That’s true in nature and it’s true spiritually. Where there is vibrant mature life, there is reproduction.

Life Reproduces Life!

Last week, we saw that truth confirmed yet again as a third-generation fellowship emerged among what some consider a “disreputable” segment of our county.

This new community of believers is in a subculture where Christians and other churches previously lacked the courage to go. Until now, they had been written off as beyond hope.

These new believers found life in Jesus because some cared enough to go where most feared to tread.

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Balance

October 15, 2012 By in Doctrine, Existentialism, Gifts, Love, Organic Church, Spiritual Disciplines, Truth 16 Comments

The greatest challenge facing the Church today are those who promote truth out of balance:

  • Those who think the Person of Christ can be fractured from His concurrent propositional truths, moral precepts and commands;
     
  • Those who want the vibrancy of the internal Living Word, without submitting all things to the authority and discipline of His written external Word;
     
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Beyond Scripture? (Part 2)

October 9, 2012 By in Absolutes, Bible, Existentialism, Frank Viola, Humor, Postmodern, Relativism 36 Comments

Jesus Loves Me

(An existential version of that favorite childhood song.
I encourage you to have some fun by singing along as you read it.)

Jesus loves me, this I know,
Postmodern grace has made it so.
With His Spirit in my heart,
External truth now has no part.

Chorus:

Did Jesus tell me?
Oh, how can I know?
I feel Jesus told me,
I hope that makes it so.

Additional Verses:

The Bible says that I must go,
Proclaim His Word – oh no no no!
Now existential I’ve become,
‘Cause His commands just leave me numb

My sense of Jesus is true light,
I do not worry what is right.
With my sensibilities,
I do not need moralities.

The Bible’s NOT the Word of God.
My own perceptions earn my nod!
The Jesus I have come to see,
Surprisingly looks just like me.

I only want the Living Word,
The Bible seems just too absurd.
Now I perceive reality,
The way I want it all to be.

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Beyond Scripture? (Part 1)

October 5, 2012 By in Bible, Existentialism, Truth 28 Comments

It is a sign of desperation: Those who indefensibly deny the plenary authority of scripture as the written Word of God inevitably proclaim – when all their other arguments fail – that you are making the Bible your god or elevating the Bible to the level of divinity.

Lost in an Existential Maze of Their Own Creation

Lately, I’ve been hearing this more and more from those who believe their personal narrative and perceptions about Jesus are more authoritative and higher revelation than His written Word.

They proclaim “Christ is All”, but their “all” ignores much of who Christ has revealed Himself to be in scripture. (See The Problem with “All”.)

I do not worship scripture or elevate scripture to the “level of divinity”. I do elevate it to the level of divine authority, because it is the external Word of God Himself – and thus supersedes all subjective claims of personal or private revelation.

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The Power of God

October 3, 2012 By in Bondage, Existentialism, Faith, Gifts, Life, Postmodern 5 Comments

We don’t go looking for or emphasize miracles, but in our fellowships we’ve been seeing the miraculous happen time and again.

We had one man collapse and then die right in front of the paramedics and the fellowship he had been helping to start in the jail – and then come back to life shortly thereafter on the gurney in the jail infirmary after brothers gathered together to pray for him.

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Apples and Pears

October 1, 2012 By in Brokenness, Compassion, Struggles, Woundedness 8 Comments
Apples and Pears

On Saturdays I love to go to the Farmers’ Market. I always go to one particular stand because they have the most flavorful peaches, apples and fresh vegetables. At the Farmers’ Market I enjoy the eclectic mix of people as well as the fresh produce.

Because it is the fall season, apples and pears are in abundance. The number of varieties is astounding! When I go to the market I look for the fruit that is unblemished. If I arrive near closing time, often the bruised fruit are the only ones left. Everyone seems to desire the perfect fruit, not the damaged ones.

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Intercession and Repentance

September 25, 2012 By in Bible, Church, Culture, Intercession, Leadership, Prayer, Repentance 18 Comments

Our nation’s continuing moral and economic decline, and the growing malaise of our increasingly dysfunctional churches, has caused a renewed focus on intercessory prayer.

Heavy Lifting

Intercession without Repentance Is Not Effective

But intercession without transformational repentance – which Biblically involves changing the way we act by changing the way we think – is seldom effective.

While desperately seeking to touch the heart of God through intercession, few seem willing to do the concurrent hard work of understanding the mind of God. The challenges facing our nation, and our churches, require both.

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Spiritual Authority

September 24, 2012 By in Authority, Faith 3 Comments

SowerYesterday morning during fellowship, someone asked how to know if he was walking in the authority that’s ours in Christ.

I thought a moment and said: When I wake up each morning, I’m confident that Satan is more worried over what I’ll be up to that day then I’m worried over what he’ll be up to.

If you have that quiet assurance – rooted not in ego but in your unassuming confidence in Him – then you are walking in His authority.

~ Jim Wright

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Barbeque for Jesus

September 17, 2012 By in Entrepreneur, Gifts, Mentor, Redemption 3 Comments

This picture has great significance for me. It is from one of our fellowships – this one meets in my home on Sundays.

Yesterday, as we gathered together, we prayed and give prophetic words of encouragement over Oscar, a close friend who is moving forward with his road-side pit barbeque business by signing a contract to have a mobile food service trailer built for him (Oscar’s Barbeque). He has worked faithfully towards this moment – as unto the Lord – for two years.

I’ve watched and walked with Oscar as he’s progressed over time, step by step, in growing, proving and succeeding in his business model as part of God’s call on his life.

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The Problem with “All”

September 14, 2012 By in Emergent, Existentialism, Frank Viola, Grace Movement, Leadership, Truth 23 Comments

Nearly every move of God gets sidetracked when its main leaders fall into the trap of thinking that their own measure of Christ is the full measure of Christ – and thus start promoting their own perspectives and motivations as normative for all.

Truth Out of Balance is Always Precarious

No one person can ever reflect or express the full measure of Christ. Never – even if they started out truly grasping some essential, needed element of His nature, their ministry initially bore much fruit, and they even once transformed the Christian landscape.

Tragically, it often seems that such leaders slowly and subtly shift from sharing their own measure of Christ, to eventually acting as though it is now the full measure of Christ.

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Organic Church Dead Ends

August 30, 2012 By in Church Planting, Fellowship, Great Commission, Institutional Church, Kingdom of God, Organic Church, Postmodern 75 Comments

I’ve been thinking a lot about why significant segments of the organic church community in the Western hemisphere have failed to achieve Biblical viability – becoming instead anemic, self-focused and insular.

Even a casual observer must acknowledge that “organic” or “simple” churches in the West (unlike other parts of the world) seldom exhibit dynamic spiritual power; consistent reproduction, growth and maturity; or tangible, transforming impact.

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Life or Reaction?

August 27, 2012 By in Abuse, Confession, Forgiveness, Healing, Liberty, Life 3 Comments

So much of our “theology” (and we all have “theology”!) is forged these days by hurts.

The Bible has been used as a club to beat us into conformity, so we reject its plenary authority.

Our need for mercy has been abused, so we latch onto a concept of grace that excludes the Lord’s occasional rebuke and discipline.

We have suffered from authoritarian leadership or a controlling church, so we become autonomous and discount the need for healthy, accountable community.

We realize that some pet doctrines were wrong, so we seek a purely existential Jesus and cringe at objective truth.

In doing so, we are reacting to hurts, wrongs and mistakes – rather than embracing life.

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Now, For Something Serious…

August 23, 2012 By in Humor 2 Comments

I don’t usually talk about stuff like this, but I’ve discovered an insidious conspiracy of silence about a chemical called dihydrogen monoxide.

Dihydrogen Monoxide is Everywhere!

Few know that we are all exposed to it every day.

It is in nearly all the food you eat, and even in your drinks. Daily, your children consume it. I’ve even seen kiddies swim in it because of government regulations that allow it in our pools.

In fact, the Obama administration provides funding to produce vast quantities of the stuff, even though literally millions have died from it.

It is, without a doubt, crony capitalism at its worse – funded and directed by the federal government with taxpayer money.

And yes, the conspiracy includes Republicans – even Ron Paul is in on it, so you know it runs “deep”.

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My Shattered Reality

August 22, 2012 By in Epiphany 5 Comments

Recently I shared with some of our fellowships, including those in the jail, how Mary and others failed to recognize the risen Jesus.

Just when we think we have it all figured out, He shatters our reality

Think about it. There He was, in the garden right in front of Mary, and she didn’t recognize Him. Likewise, He appeared over the next forty days – before His ascension – to others who knew Him before the cross, but after the cross they consistently failed to recognize Him.

His resurrection was so outside their reality and frame of reference that even when He was standing right in front of them, they only saw a stranger, and not Him.

They thought they knew Jesus, and to a limited extent they did. But only in terms of their own pre-resurrection reality.

Post-resurrection, they simply couldn’t get their minds around the bigger reality of who Jesus really was and what He really was about, because a resurrected Jesus did not conform to the Jesus they thought they knew, had lived with, saw crucified and helped bury.

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Hanging On – Part 2

August 20, 2012 By in Compassion, Love, Ministry, Struggles 5 Comments

Are we living up to God’s plan for His body? What is His plan for His body? Are we all heart? Are we all head?

I believe a spider web exemplifies the body of Christ. A spider web is both beautiful and useful, but also very complex. The spider’s silk has the unique ability to become softer or stiffer depending on the stress the web receives. It is not stagnant but active. God so designed the spider’s web that when one strand breaks, the strength of the entire web actually increases.

God desires the same for His church. There are times when a situation requires softness and the “web” needs to reach out and actively demonstrate that attribute. In contrast, sometimes the body needs to show stiffness and resolve, so rushing to the rescue might not be the best answer.

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