Last week I made some open statements about liberal and conservative Christians. I said we divide the church around things that we shouldn't. That doesn't mean we should never disassociate with rebellious people. But where there's a common heart, we can and should engage with people of different minds. This week I tell a couple stories that illustrate that. As long as we practice kindness over assertiveness, and invite the scriptures to judge us, rather than us sitting in judgment on them. If we will stop protecting ourselves and others from the discomfort of reading the scriptures for what they say, we will experience mutual redemption and restoration in our microchurches.
00:00 Introduction: Continuing the Thought 00:13 Microchurch and LGBTQ+ Compassion 00:53 Journey to Dover, Ohio 01:11 Inclusivity in Microchurches 01:59 Scriptural Integrity and Compassionate Conversations 04:06 Engaging Liberal and Conservative Views 05:04 Kindness in Confrontation 07:24 Scriptural Authority and Truth 08:53 Conviction and Unity in Faith 10:22 Final Thoughts and Encouragement Mission Update: Berlin, St Marys and Shipshe![]()
I wrote last week about a conversation I had in Berlin, Ohio about one man's dream of a place where foster parents and single moms could live in community with others -- and how my recent experience with the Bruderhof might give some guidance to the implementation of such a thing. Please help us by praying for clear leading. And feel free to speak into it if you have a similar interest.
After my lunch conversation with that friend last Friday, I met another local pastor for coffee. He pastors a megachurch that started out of a house church. He brought a friend who was visiting from Davis County, Indiana, who has been leading a house church for the past 18 years! It was such an encouragement to meet him. And he told me about another house church he had recently been introduced to in Bryan, Texas, about an hour from where we plan to stop on our way back in October. God is good. When I say the conversations are incredible, I mean not just the conversations themselves, but the connections God has been orchestrating. From that meeting I had dinner with an elder of another church who remains interested in our X242 way of being church. It was good to mutually encourage each other. Sunday, I went to LifeBridge, a conventional church in Dover, Ohio pastored by another friend of mine. I'm not sure how to say this, but it was delightfully messy. I mean, even though there was a program that followed the basic line up (welcome, worship set, announcements, sermon, closing song), it felt like a house church in someone's living room. They had a 14 year old read the scripture. They took time for prayer requests. Some people told stories. Everything felt conversational. Kids walked around. God was honored. And then we all shared a meal afterward. It was such a wonderful example of how God is calling people to something more personable and restful than the church machine that continues to exhaust so many. Praise God. We left Berlin Friday and drove to St Marys where we connected with people who moved from Sarasota several years ago. It was good to catch up and share inspirations from our travels. Again, there's a stirring around the stories from our time with the Bruderhof. Then we came to Shipshewana, Indiana. Sunday, I drove 45 minutes to That Church Downtown in South Bend. I first met the pastor nine or ten years ago, and reconnected with him and his wife early last year. He told me "services starts at 11-ish." I got there a little early and the room was dotted with people silently praying. By 11-ish, there were twenty or thirty people there, talking and getting things ready. Not long after that we were praying, then singing, then sharing. A man asked if he could give a little witness at the end because he didn't want to take time from the service. The pastor had a child pray before the kids went to their classes, then he had me bring a greeting from X242, and then he preached. It was nice. And I kept thinking some of our house churches are this big, if not bigger. After church they had me over to their house across the street for lunch. I learned that several years ago the church was running 135 people. But then, about the same time I was being challenged in my own church setting, they were also being challenged. They realized that they were good at having worship services, but bad at discipling people. And that was confirmed when they made changes. People left. And yet they still believe that was the right decision. I hear there's pastors in the area talking about starting a house church network. I'm trying to connect with them. I have other meetings as well. Please pray, remembering the above, and asking God to keep opening doors for ministry. I continue to pray for all in our X242 network of tiny churches.
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I recently had a personal experience that exposed my own tension about how to relate to conservative and progressive believers within the Christian faith. How much do we need to agree about in order to relate to each other as being in the faith? If someone comes to faith, but they go to a church that's more liberal or conservative than ours, do we genuinely celebrate that they've come to faith, or do we hold back. It’s important to lean into this tension prayerfully, especially in microchurch gatherings where it’s hard to hide our differences. Is it possible for conservative and liberal Christians to be in fellowship with each other? How much difference can you tolerate? How much difference should we tolerate?
00:00 An Interesting Experience 00:13 Family Reunion Reflections 01:44 Conservative vs. Progressive Faith 04:59 Personal Struggles with Faith 09:01 Defining the Faith 11:16 Unity in Faith 12:52 Final Thoughts and Encouragement Mission Update: Have you heard of the Bruderhof?
As Wendy and I travel the country to encourage people in our X242 network, and to pique the interest of others about the same, I am overjoyed at the quality and breadth of experiences.
The Bruderhof Last week we left the Spring Valley Bruderhof in Farmington, PA, and drove a few hours to Berlin, Ohio, where I've had a number of meetings. And I continue to mull over my Bruderhof experience such that it keeps coloring all my conversations with people. ("Have you heard of the Bruderhof?") Bruderhof is German for Place of Brothers. They are an Anabaptist community, with roots in the Radical Reformation in 1525, which branched out of the Protestant Reformation. Anabaptism is marked by a lived out faith, adult baptism, and rejection of violence. If you think of Amish, Hutterite, or Mennonite, you're in the ballpark, but at the same time, Bruderhof isn't any of those. They were started in 1920 in Germany, in response to all the things that were going on there at the time. They were persecuted, and they responded by living communally, meaning they have all things in common. No one has any personal possessions. There are 3000 people, with a couple dozen large communities around the world with 200-300 people in each. But then they also have a number of small house church type communities where ten or twelve people might share a house. (Interestingly, for those of us in Sarasota, there's one at the St Pete Pier!) The larger communities farm to supply the community with vegetables, etc., and they have their own businesses (Rifton and Community Playthings), which have onsite factories that most people work in, and which provides for the financial needs of the community. People in house churches work regular jobs if necessary, but still share all things in common. At the Spring Valley community, they have lunch together every weekday. But they also give each other plenty of personal space at night. They have an onsite school. They have a Sunday worship gathering that is kept simple for children. They sing hymns and folk songs that they all enjoy. They also sing before meals. They have adult bible studies a couple nights a week, but it can be interrupted for other things. For the most part, it's all very fluid and peaceful, even though they work a lot. It was a fascinating experience. I asked questions the whole time. Nothing was off limits. I discovered no "wizard of Oz" behind the curtain pulling the levers, and no bishop telling everyone what they're allowed to do or how to dress. They have cell phones and electricity and all the modern conveniences. I asked Mathais, our 28 year old host, if they're allowed to watch YouTube and stuff, and he said, Of course. I said, but can a person just sit and watch YouTube on their phone all evening? And he said, "I mean you could, but why would you want to?" That was a pretty good answer for me. They like to hang out and talk at night, sitting outside on swings and things. One of my favorite take aways was the value of living out their faith in community. I'm not sure if someone said it or I read it: "If you're not close to God, you'll know it, and we'll know it. If you're close to God, you'll know it and we'll know it." And by extension, "If you're caught up in a sin, you'll know it and we'll know it." I was encouraged by that, because in it is a hope that through the community just paying attention to each other, and caring for each other, there will be redemption and restoration. The care and concern is more than just physical and relational; it's spiritual. I can't stop mulling over all that. And it keeps finding its way into all my conversations, and my imaginations. Can It Be Applied In Other Ways? Here in Berlin, a friend and I picked up a conversation from last year, about his desire to establish something where foster families and single moms can live in community, supporting each other. I've explored similar conversations with a lady in Florida who refers to "orphans and "widows" as people of any age and stage that have no other family. In both conversations, the desire is the same: to create community where there is mutuality of care and concern, centered around and inspired by our love for Jesus which proves itself in love for each other. We would all do well to memorize James 1:27, "Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this: To look after orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep ourselves from being polluted by the world." If we expand that to include anyone who is disadvantaged by a lack of family, I would include some divorcees in that, as well as foster kids. In our X242 network we definitely have "orphans and widows." A few days ago I was talking with a man here who is widowed. I described the things I was thinking about and he asked if such a community would be healthy for someone like him. He was asking it from a weak position, not a challenging position. He was wondering if there would be a place for an older single person like him. My answer is Yes, it would be healthy. Wonderful even. You might even say vital. And not just vital for people like him, but for others who get to care for and be cared for by people like him. We all need community. We all need to love others, just as much as we need to be loved by others. Where I Differ But as much as I'm intrigued by it, I need to say where I differ. Not really to correct them, but just to keep my words from saying something I don't intend. The Bruderhof believe that the early church lived communally with a common purse, and so they do the same. They point to Acts 2:44 and 4:32 as their inspiration: "All the believers were together and had everything in common," and "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had." And so the Bruderhof has chosen to live without any personal possessions, but rather, to have a common purse where all income goes into the pot, and all needs are paid for from the same pot. They do it willingly, with a voluntary lifelong pledge. I'm just as inspired by those passages. In fact, that's why I wanted to experience their radical application of that. But when I read those passages I also see in Acts 2:45 and 4:34-35 that the believers "sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need," and "there were no needy persons among them, for from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need." And so we still see ownership, but also a need-inspired generosity where those possessions are disposed of as necessary to meet the needs of the family. The early church lived as family, giving very generously to meet people's needs, but retaining their personal property. That said, I don't believe what the Bruderhof has chosen is bad. In fact, I think it's good. But it's not required. I don't personally feel called to it but I do respect it. And I am inspired by the radical nature of their commitment to each other. What Might It Mean for X242? In my conversations this week I've been listening to what God would say. Again, I am not feeling led to join the Bruderhof, but I do believe they have something to teach us. And so I can't help but imagine what God might call us to in our simpler way of being church. Is there an opportunity for some of us to live that out in more intentional community than just weekly meetings in people's homes? Is there such a place in our X242 way of thinking and living that would have room for such a community? Not Bruderhof, but Bruderhof-ish. And certainly not that it would be the only way to do X242, but just a way to do it. I'm curious if it inspires anyone else's imaginations like it does mine? Or perhaps it invokes fear or concern? Anyone? Prayers Thank you for your prayers. Tomorrow we leave Berlin, and go to St Marys, Ohio to connect with friends there for a few days. Then we spend a week in Shipshewana, Indiana, before making our way over to Easton, Kansas. Thank you everyone for you prayers! God is answering with inspired conversations every day, all along the way. Amen! 6/30/2024 2 Comments Such Encouraging Conversations![]() Thank you for your prayers! I have been so encouraged by the conversations I've been able to have! Last weekend I spent a few days at a family reunion. I also have good conversations with cousins and uncles and aunts, many of whom are in the faith. But this time I was especially encouraged to find faith where I hadn't before. Two conversations stand out which I tell about in this week's YouTube teaching. I'll just let you watch that here. Harrisonburg, VA After the reunion, I had wonderful conversations in the Harrisonburg area, some of which were started last year, and others that were new this year. I met with three couples who are interested in planting, and are discerning the next steps. One of the couples already has a weekly meeting in their home where university students (mostly foreign and Muslim) come to learn about the Christian faith. They don't see this gathering as a church, but maybe God wants to do something there. Or maybe he wants to start two or three microchurches. The interest is there. But there are also some barriers. So please pray for clear direction. I had dinner last Tuesday with an adult Sunday School class that has been together for over thirty years. They have connected with some of my teachings, and our X242 way of doing things, so I wanted to learn more about them. It was a rich conversation. So much to celebrate there. The love each other. And they love the Lord. They also have some starkly different views about some of the things that split churches and nations. But they have remained loving in their dialog. We were able to discuss some of those topics directly, speaking the truth in love, and listening to each other with gentleness and patience that doesn't betray conviction. I was especially encouraged to hear how one of the men said that, when he has taught a book study, he has just wanted to throw the book out and open the bible. That's what we do at X242! So I'm encouraging them to try that. I think they will. And I feel like they'll probably continue to connect with us. I also had coffee with the pastor of an older conventional church who loves what we're doing. He also has great affection for this church. We simply encouraged each other. Lancaster, PA It was a quick stay in the Lancaster area. It was our first time visiting missionally. We will plan to spend more time there the next time we visit. I believe there is an open door for effective ministry. I met with a man who heads up a network of sixteen house churches, scattered through the U.S. and even a few international locations. Their network is part of a larger network of churches, including conventional and even mega churches. I asked him lots of questions about what they do, and how. And I was greatly encouraged by the conversation. Spring Valley Bruderhof // Farmington, PA I had never heard of the Bruderhof until last year when Jorge Enciso mentioned it to me on a leadership Zoom. The Bruderhof is a Christian fellowship that lives communally with a common purse, meaning no one has their own possessions. They share all things. And it's a lifetime membership, meaning you pledge yourself to the community for life. Like you, I have SO many questions, and I've been asking them. They are very, very hospitable. But we just pulled in last night (Saturday), and will be here till Tuesday morning, so I'm sure I'll have more to say later about my conversations. Specific Prayer Requests
Our mission is to plant and encourage microchurches wherever God opens a door, and to encourage and strengthen faith wherever we find it. This means lots of conversations! And that takes lots of energy.
Please pray for health and wellness for Wendy and me. It seems we keep getting hit with various health problems, from an injured back (which is better now! Praise God!) to recurring respiratory illnesses and the like. As you know, I'm not quick to claim "spiritual attack" over every hard thing in life, but I do believe the enemy would like to rob us of the energy and life needed to carry out this mission well. I know God is faithful, and I believe he will provide in accordance with your prayers. Also, pray for the following:
Thank you!
Thank you for your prayers. And thank you to those who support X242. My heart is to pay my own way in living out this mission, and God has given Wendy and me a business which helps with that, and allows us to do some work from the road. But being gone from the business is expensive, as is travel itself. Your support really does make up the difference for us, and we are humbled and filled with gratitude. God bless you, and this X242 ministry, that we would all be fruitful in life, and in helping others enter the Kingdom.
I pray for you every day. 6/17/2024 0 Comments My Prayer for You
When you read the prayers of Paul, which populate his letters to the churches, you get a sense of his affection for those he's writing to. And, in the overflow of that love, he prays for them with joy and hope and delight, which probably increases the love and affection all the more.
Anyone who commits themselves to praying for another person, also opens their hearts to increased love and affection. Such is my experience when I pray for you, the people who have connected with X242. Often, of late, my prayers have included Philippians 1:4. "I pray that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best, so that you will be found pure and blameless on the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness which is yours through Jesus Christ, to God's glory and praise." There are other prayers that we can pray for an increase in faith, or strength, or stamina. Those are good prayers too. But this prayer has captured my attention and imagination. What does it mean for love to "abound more and more"? Without giving it much thought, we might imagine it as an increase in good feelings about God or about others. That's wonderful when that happens. But Paul prays (and I've been praying) that it would abound "in knowledge and depth of insight." That's different. It's more mature than feelings. What would it mean for your love to abound more and more in knowledge? What would it look like for your love to keep on increasing in depth of insight? To increase in knowledge is to apply yourself to adding information you don't yet have. That can be information about love itself, as a quality you're trying to embody, that you don't yet do as well as you want. And it can be about whoever it is you're trying to love, be it God, or your neighbor, or your enemy. Do you relate to God as someone you're still getting to know? Are you still learning who he is, what he's like, how he sees things, and why he does what he does? To continue to seek his face, to seek his heart, to seek his mind about things, is to apply yourself to a love that is abounding more and more in knowledge. And this will deepen your insight about who he is, and how you can best love him. The same is true for people you're trying to love. And I don't mean just people who are hard to love. The people who are easy to love. Are you applying yourself to knowing them, like who they are, what they like, how they see things, and why they do what they do? I'm not saying we should try to read them like a text book, but learn to see them, to feel what they feel, and think what they think -- not to model yourself after them, or to manipulate them in any way, but to simply know them, so you can love them well. And then learn to do that with the people who are hard to love. To do this will deepen your insight about who they are, and how best you can love them. Finally, to increase in love about love itself, memorize that part of the love chapter people read at weddings. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." When you're tempted by impatience, remember that "love is patient." When you catch yourself being unkind, remind yourself that "love is kind." And in doing this, your love will abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. And as you keep on doing that, the Holy Spirit will be inspiring in you the answer to my prayers. "I pray that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best, so that you will be found pure and blameless on the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness which is yours through Jesus Christ, to God's glory and praise." (For another application of this thought, check out this week's teaching.) Amen. Specific Prayer Requests
We left Sarasota yesterday morning. Our travels have been uneventful, but I threw my back out, so am laying low for a day. Tomorrow we head north, stopping in Charlotte and then to our campground for a week in the Shenandoah Valley. Please pray specifically for the following:
6/5/2024 0 Comments Prayer MapThe map above is how our mission travels are shaping up for this summer. It's still tentative in many regards, but is starting to settle in. We plan to be gone four months, maybe five, depending on things back here at home. Our plans are very much, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:15)
Several destinations orient our travels because of existing churches or ongoing conversations that we believe will be fruitful: Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. But there's a lot in between! And different ways to get to the different places. So we are praying and looking for open doors. Like I wrote last week, the goal is to plant and encourage microchurches. But that doesn't preclude conventional church ministry, it just means we're looking to connect with people who are drawn to the beauty of the simpler church model. I am planning to connect with a couple other house church networks, as well as a Bruderhof community which lives communally. I look forward to those conversations, not that we are looking to join them, but that I want to learn from them. Would you spend some time praying over this map? And if you know any people in these areas that we should try to connect with, please email me and let me know, and pray for that to happen. Also pray for the chance conversations we'll have along the way, as this mode of travel and living is filled with conversations. The actual destinations (as of today) are below.
And here's the prayer. It's from Colossians 4. "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ... Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should." Thank you! 5/27/2024 0 Comments Second Mission JourneyIn a couple weeks Wendy and I head north and then west, living nomadically again for a season, with a goal of planting and encouraging microchurches wherever God opens a door. It looks like we'll come back the southern route, returning to Sarasota in the fall. Lord willing.
Right now we seem to have open doors in Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. I can't wait to connect again with people in those places. We also plan to spend some time in Pennsylvania and Texas learning more about what other house church networks are doing. And we pray for open doors as we travel between those places. But the phrase "planting and encouraging microchurches" gives me pause. I said the same thing last year when we set out on our first U.S. mission trip. And what I learned is that the "encouraging" part is easy. At least it's not difficult. It's not impossible. Coming alongside people who are already doing it is wonderful. It's mutually satisfying. But the "planting" part is hard. I mean, piquing the interest of people who aren't doing it is actually easy. Everyone seems interested in a simpler church model. Finding common ground with people is easy. Having enthusiastic conversations is easy. Even redirecting people's grumblings about bad church experiences is fairly easy. But maturing those conversation to where there are people gathered in homes? That's hard. And it causes me to reflect: Why should they? Why do I want them to? Why do I think it's good? Why am I getting ready to do this again? Barriers to Entry I got back from my first mission trip seven months ago. And since that time we have been trying to get another church rooted here in Sarasota. So I've been reflecting, and I see two barriers to entry. Two reasons that people who like the idea of house church usually don't do it. 1. They already go to church. There are people in the faith who think simpler church would be refreshing, but they're already committed to a conventional church, either with responsibilities, or just habit. And the church offers programs they enjoy, or have come to rely on, like a weekly worship concert or hymn-sing, a meaningful and helpful message, and kids church. It's easy to criticize that as "consumeristic," but the things they're consuming aren't bad. It's not a junk food diet, it's just a sedentary lifestyle. A sedentary faith experience. But many people attend traditional churches for more relational reasons. Their family has been going to this church forever. They know each other's stories and relatives. They share a common history. Church functions for them sort of like the romanticized version of the small town. Where I grew up and now live, I was part of a religious enclave within the city, and it's very nice to still feel like I belong to it. I actually believe this is a good thing. Then again, others go to newer churches that have an on-fire mission. The church talks about itself as a movement. They have big hairy audacious goals to win the city and all that. They have a pastor who hears directly from God, and has a bold confidence about promising good things for the church, as if it's the kingdom of God itself. Often these kinds of church are a bit of a hype-loop where they hype what's going to happen and then hype what did happen, but still, it's energizing to be part of something bigger than ourselves. For whatever reason someone is in a conventional church, the reality is that, with finite energy and attention, if they're going to seriously plant a microchurch in their home, they would need to stop "going to church." And that can feel like death. 2. They don't go to church. There are other people who are in the faith but don't go to church at all. They left church at some point, for some reason, and they've gotten used to it. Some have started totally neglecting their faith and they realize that their life didn't fall apart because of that. They're at peace. Others are self-directed in their faith. They read their bibles, watch teaching podcasts, and listen to recorded worship music. They're not in any formalized fellowship and they usually like it that way. And they're at peace. For these people, the decision to stop doing nothing and start doing something is significant. It's a commitment. It's a death to what has been. The fear of tethering themselves to other people is greater than the fear of finding themselves alone when they need people. So Why Do It? I said during the pandemic that God was shaking his church. I pleaded, "After the shaking has stopped, please, let's not just put everything back how we had it!" Well, it feels like a long time since then. And it seems apparent that a lot of churches just put things back how they had them. But God shook his church. And I believe he is going to shake us again. In fact, I believe he is still shaking us, even if we've grown accustomed to the tremors. Some of us remember how, when a celebrity pastor got caught having an affair, it absolutely rattled us. It shook us to the core. Now it seems like we hear about something like that every month or so, and we just shake our heads with a bit of disgust and go on about our life as if it's to be expected. We've grown accustomed to the shaking. But remember, it is part of the shaking. God is showing us the depth of depravity and deception in the church. Like Peter said in 1 Peter 4, "For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household..." And this is always grace. Like Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3, "No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames." God is graciously shaking apart what will not survive his judgment, so that everyone who has built their faith on those things can escape the same judgment. In Numbers 16, when God judged Korah and his followers by causing the earth to open up and swallow them, Moses first warned everyone: “Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.” Still, that doesn't mean conventional church is bad, or that house churches are good. It doesn't say anything about how we do church. Or be church. It just says what we're susceptible to. And I would say that, no matter how we meet, we are susceptible to error. But I also believe that, for this time, and in the time to come, the errors we find in large pastor-centric churches are often more egregious. And I believe a network of simpler churches are needed. Because it is the antidote to consumerism church, and empire church, and celebrity pastor worship. So that's my why. I think people need it. And I think the Church needs it. That's Why I Desperately Need Prayer I alluded above to "open doors." I draw inspiration from Paul's request in Colossians 4. "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." And I'm encouraged by the relational and nomadic tone that we read 1 Corinthians 16, as it is my heart as well: "After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you—for I will be going through Macedonia. Perhaps I will stay with you for a while, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. For I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me." And my hope, especially, is to be able to say that last part: a great door for effective work has opened to me. So, thank you for adding us and this request to your regular prayers. God knows how I pray for you often, as well. Finally, as we prepare to hit the road June 16, I just want to say thank you to those who help support this work financially. Please know that I pray over each gift with special gratitude for the giver. I'm humbled. God is honored. Yes, Lord. Much love to you all. 10/23/2023 0 Comments October 23, 2023Update | TeachingUpdate
With this post I am now reducing the frequency of this blog. In lieu of it, I'd like to focus on connecting via Telegram, which allows for more social interaction and networking between members of microchurches, without requiring people to sign up with one of the social media platforms. On Telegram we are able to share teachings, updates, and prayer requests, and to discuss bible topics, recipes, and anything else related to being followers of Christ in a simpler church environment. Please email me for an invite!
This Week's Teaching: "What If The Two Witnesses of Revelation 11 are Israel and the Church?"
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PREFACE
If I might preface this week's teaching with a comment that I made in response to someone on the YouTube forum (edited here for relevance): There are generally two credible ways to read Revelation, but no consensus. That's why I try to say "I think" or "I'm speculating." I know that sounds like I haven't studied it, but I really just hope that by demonstrating a more conversational approach to these things, we can learn to stay away from the doctrinal certitude that divides the body of Christ around disputable matters. The helpful conversation allows for different views. So if I explain another view, please don't hear it as me shutting out yours. Generally some people say that Revelation is to be read literally (although they would probably still say the beast and dragon are not literal, but symbolic). Others say it is to be read figuratively (although they would probably still say the angels and martyrs, etc. are literal). I land in the second camp. In the first camp, people would say the prophets are literally two people. (Although they wouldn't say they're literally "two olive trees" and "two lampstands," which I find a bit ironic.) Of those who believe they're literally people, some would say they're two resurrected prophets of old. I think the best case for that is Moses and Elijah who Jesus talked to on the Mount of Transfiguration. Others would say that it's two new prophets that come onto the scene, like we see in the pop eschatology of Left Behind, etc. In the second camp where I'm at, people would say the prophets are symbolic. Every time I study it, I'm most satisfied by the interpretation that the two witnesses are "the Old Covenant and the New Covenant." Embodied, we can speak of them as "Israel and the Church." But at the heart of it, it's the OC and NC. If you read the book of Revelation in sections, allowing the "sevens" to divide it (churches, seals, trumpets, plagues), you'll see the same story being told in parallels, and this will become more clear. All that said, if two literal prophets show up on the scene, it won't frustrate my faith at all. And if they don't, I'll be ready for what comes. That's my prayer and my desire in bringing this teaching.
TRANSCRIPT
If I could just piggyback off of my comments from last week when I was talking about Israel and Hamas or Gaza. I mentioned about Israel and the church being the two witnesses in the end time and in that I talked about Israel as the holy people of God. And someone asked me, how do I define Israel as the holy people of God? And I think that's worth clarifying. I do not believe that nationhood makes Israel God's holy people. In other words, what happened in 1948 or 1967 or whatever the dates are, the current nationhood of Israel doesn't secure their holy people status before God. Nor do I believe Zionism is the same thing as Israel, the holy people of God. I don't believe that them occupying a certain land with specific boundaries, even though I know that the promised land was given and the boundaries were marked out. It's clear in scripture. But even though there is a land element to it, I don't believe that them occupying a specific land is what makes them holy before God. I do believe that God choosing Abraham for himself and saying, " I am going to establish a covenant with you, not that you asked for it, but I am choosing you. You will be my people and I will be your God" -- that declares Israel, through Abraham's seed , the people of God. Now here's the difficulty. Here's the tension I have with the whole thing. I don't believe you can reject Jesus as Messiah and still be right with God. And by and large, the Jewish people reject Jesus as the Messiah. I don't believe they're right with God. I believe they have a call on their life, but I don't believe they're right with God. You can't reject God and be safe with God. You can't reject God's son and be safe with God's son. You can't reject the Lord and be safe with the Lord. And so I would stop short of saying that they are in God's favor. To the contrary, I believe that as long as they persist in rejecting the Holy Spirit's witness about Jesus; as long as they persist in the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, ascribing the witness of the Holy Spirit to the witness of demons; as long as they persist in rejecting the Holy Spirit's witness of Jesus, they are not safe with God. And they are not holy unto the Lord. Now when we talk about "holy," we think about it a couple different ways. Holy unto God is to be dedicated to God, to be set apart for a sacred purpose, to be devoted to him. And in some sense God declares us holy. He declared the Israelite people holy. He called them out of and set them apart for himself. And for the Christians, he calls us out of and sets us apart for himself. He declares us holy by his own declaration, and it doesn't always line up with the decisions we make in life or how we act, but we're still declared holy. And yet there's another way to look at holiness where, if I am living my life devoted to the Lord, I can be described as living a holy life, a life set apart for the Lord. And the same would be true for those in Israel, the Jews, the Israelites. As I'm recording this, the conflict in Israel between Israel and Hamas or Gaza or the Palestinian people, however you want to frame it, is still something that's ongoing, and as I listen to what everyone is saying, there is this outcry against the Jews. I was surprised at how quickly people jumped on the Jews in favor of the Palestinians. I'm not going to attempt to dissect why that is here, but I was surprised at how quickly hatred for the Jews comes up. I'm not saying that everyone who has compassion for the Palestinians has hatred for the Jews. I'm talking about hatred for the Jews. And I was surprised to hear of the hatred for the Jews. And I started to ask, why is it? Why do people hate the Jews so much? They're not that different from an awful lot of people in the world that the world doesn't hate. Why is it that they have hatred for the Jews? I believe it's because they live and exist as a witness of God's selection. God selected them out of the world as a people for himself. And historically that meant sending them in to take land from enemy nations, meaning not enemies just of the Jewish people, but enemies of God -- people who had made themselves a stench to God, who had defied God, who had defiled the land. And he sent his people in to rid the land of them. Through violence. And that's enough to register some bitterness. I wonder if that's a part of why the world hates the Jews so much. And yet behind that would be why does the world hate God so much? I don't think that every time the Israelites or every time the Jews kill their enemies that that's of God. But I have to admit that there's times in scripture where God sent them in to do things that I actually find objectionable. And yet I believe that God, because He's God, I believe that anything God does is righteous. It is good. It is right. It is wise. It is true. Like, I don't question anything God does because He gets to decide these things. If God asks someone to do something, it's good. It's good. I don't question that. I wonder if that's why the world hates the Jews so much. Because God used them to exact his vengeance on people who had done really bad things. I'm talking a long time ago. A long time ago. I think also the Jews live as this ongoing witness of God selecting people and that in itself is kind of incriminating for people. It's insulting that God would pick these people and not those people. And so those people could easily, legitimately, justifiably be offended that God would pick the Jews and not them. And that could settle in as this grudge that gets nursed over generations and generations. It could be that. When I heard last week that there was a call for a global day of jihad, which was turned into a global day of rage, however people talked about it -- I'm just being transparent about my thought process -- my first thought was a bit of fear. Like just doing the assessment of what do I need to do to protect my family and all that. Just doing that assessment, I quickly said, "Well, yes, looking at me, I could pass for a Jew, but I'm not Jewish. I'm probably safe. I probably don't need to worry about global jihad." And then I realized Israel lives as this witness of God hated by the world. And the church lives as this witness of God hated by the world. If the Jews are chased down, it's reasonable to expect that the Christians too will be chased down, especially by people who have declared their hatred for both groups. And that's pretty sobering. Now, I'm not saying the sky is falling, I'm not a doomsayer, like, that's not my thing. And yet, I think hardship is coming. And so when I read Revelation 11... This morning, I was studying Revelation 11 and it took me back into Ezekiel. (I'll put this in the description below so you can press pause, read it, whatever you want.) It took me back to Ezekiel. And then to Daniel chapter seven and chapter 12. And then Revelation 11 and then Revelation 13. And as I was reading through all this, there is a consistent, profound, explicit witness that God's people will be defeated for a time. An explicit witness, prophetic witness that God's people will be defeated for a time, and then they will possess the kingdom. Then they will be given their reward. This is consistent. When I read Revelation 11 about the witnesses prophesying for forty two months or twelve hundred and sixty days, which is three and a half years. And when I read Daniel and see the same numbers, and that God's people are going to be defeated for a time. And I read Ezekiel, and Ezekiel is given a measuring rod and told to go measure the temple. And when I read Revelation 11, John sees an angel who has a measuring rod, and is told to go and measure the temple. And I read the outer courts has been given to the Gentiles to be trampled on for a time. I believe Revelation 11 is saying that the two witnesses -- and I could be wrong. This is speculating. It doesn't say the two witnesses are this. I'm saying I think the two witnesses are this: Israel and the church. I believe it's the two witnesses who for three and a half millennia, have been a witness of God. Israel and the church. It just might be that where Revelation 11 says that they're prophesying for the 42 months, the 1,260 days. It might be that this is the time that Israel and the church are going to be defeated, overthrown, for a time, for three and a half days, whatever that means. And then after that, the breath of God enters them and they stand to their feet and they rise up to meet God in the air, to meet the Lord in the air. It might be that that's what this is. It might be that we are facing that time. Here's my concern. Many say that this is a time where the church is supposed to take over the kingdom and we're supposed to establish the kingdom on the earth and God wants to prosper us and all that. If that's this, and for some reason God allows, as he's decreed, he allows for the witnesses to be defeated and to lie dead in the streets where the enemies refuse them a decent burial, and they come from all over to gloat over them and give each other gifts and high fives. If this is the time for that, and we're prepared only for prosperity, we will be defeated in our souls, in our spirits. On the other hand, if we understand that, yes, there is a time that God has sovereignly decreed that his people will be defeated for a time, and then after that receive the kingdom; if we believe that there is a time we can be prepared for that. And if for some reason God chooses to give us favor and prosperity, man, so be it. Amen. My challenge, my encouragement to you is be strong in the Lord. Be strong in the faith. Choose faithfulness, no matter what. Pray for peace. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Pray for peace in Israel, pray for peace in the church. Pray that our witness would be complete. That it would be of grace. That it would be of Jesus. Pray that God's sovereign plan would be fulfilled, even in our lifetime. Many of us live with this sense of, come Lord Jesus, come quickly. What if this was it? What if it was time? That's my prayer. That it would be time. I leave you with that. If you have any other thoughts on this, please leave a comment below. I would love to interact with you. We're figuring this out prayerfully, asking God for wisdom and discernment. Amen. 10/16/2023 4 Comments October 16, 2023Teaching | Mission Update & Prayers
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This Week's Teaching: "Three Conversations We Should Have About the Israel/Gaza Conflict"
Anything I say about the Israel/Hamas/Gaza conflict has the danger of having a short shelf life--if I speak too much to the current state of affairs. Today what I have to say is a long shelf life comment about it all.
I'm speaking to Christians here and I'm specifically imagining those who are in my network of microchurches or who are gathering together with other believers. Like you, when I saw the atrocities, I cried out for vengeance, just at a guttural level. And then when I saw how divided the world is, I realized this is not just an easy thing to address. As you have conversations with others, like, we're all going to be bringing our political biases and the things that we saw on the news that we thought were true and someone else said it wasn't true, and we believed them, or we didn't believe them, and we're going to argue about all sorts of things that the world argues about. What I would suggest, what I think is helpful: Focus on Justice, Witness, and Promise. As you talk about Justice, yes, we should rescue the oppressed. And God says, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." And historically, he has called his people to exact vengeance for him. We have to be slow to that. And so I think the best word is Justice. Be ready to rescue. If it's in your power to rescue the oppressed, rescue the oppressed. The second word is Witness. We need to be ready to preach. Anything we do has to be consistent with this gospel. It's tempting to imagine, if it comes down to a fight, going down in this hailstorm of bullets with a "yippee ki yay" kind of mindset. That's an ugly way. For the church I'm talking. I'm not saying there's not a place for nations to war. I'm not saying that. But if we think of the church's witness, we could go down fighting for our rights, fighting for our freedom, fighting for this and that. Or go down with a witness of: "Repent, the kingdom is near. Repent while there's still time." Because for us, the gospel is you can repent from all this evil. the gospel is preached across enemy lines. It hurls not grenades across the line. It hurls this promise across the line, that you can be free from this sin, from this evil. You can be restored to God. You can be reconciled. You can be renewed. It's a gospel that preaches across the enemy lines, "Come here. We will receive you. We will give you life. Come here. Jesus loves you. He died for you. He wants to give you life." As you think about the church's response, let it be a witness that we believe God wants to reconcile all who have alienated themselves through sin. And that includes our enemies. And then third: Promise. Promise. We live with a promise of eternal life. We believe in this, and it affects everything we do. Even if we have to lay down our lives right now, we believe that we will be raised up. In my reading right now, it just so happens that I'm reading in Psalms, Judges, Matthew, and Revelation. And it affects my perspective on this whole thing. And I would suggest that you read Psalms, Judges, Matthew, Revelation. Start today with Chapter 1 of each book, and then tomorrow Psalm 2, Judges 2, Matthew 2, Revelation 2. Psalm 3, Judges 3, Matthew 3. Revelation 3. Just start reading and let it affect your perspective more than what news channel you listen to. Sure, stay current on the news, that's fine. But let your perspective be influenced by scripture. The reality is that this conflict goes back millennia. In Judges 1, you will read "Gaza," when Judah overthrows Gaza, 3500 years ago or whatever. It's not a current thing. We think in terms of 20 years, 60 years, 80 years. It's millennia. And so let that affect you. And when you read Revelation, there are two witnesses of God. Revelation 11 says that these two witnesses will be defeated and will lie dead in the streets three and a half days. And their enemies will refuse them burial, they'll come and gloat over them and they'll give each other gifts and the whole world will celebrate over it. And then after three and a half days the breath of God will enter those two witnesses and they'll rise to their feet and they'll be taken up into heaven. There's different ways you can read it. I believe those witnesses are Israel and the Church, what God has put on this earth as prophetic witnesses . Even if Israel and the Church don't do it well, still God's prophetic desire is that Israel and the Church live as a witness against evil and for good. I believe this is God's holy people. I believe Israel and the Church represent that. As we interact with this, we need to focus on justice, witness, and promise. And so my appeal is this: as you're around the table with other people. Talking about this. Don't fight politics. Discuss justice, witness, and promise. And let our prayer be for those things, and for peace. Amen. Mission Update & Prayer Requests
10/8/2023 0 Comments October 9, 2023Teaching | Mission Update & Prayers
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This Week's Teaching: "Assurance When You've Sinned"
Have you ever been in a church service where they gave the altar call and you felt just compelled to go down, but you were already right with God? You felt guilt, like if you don't answer this altar call to go get right with God, that somehow you are confessing that you don't love the Lord?
And yet everything about your life is that you do love the Lord. You do live for Him. I've experienced that. I would say I experience that every time. I've learned to overcome that, but I experience it every time. There's something about the heart that is tender before God that wants to respond to any appeal. Like, of course I'm a sinner. Do I need to repent again? Sure, I'll repent quickly. But then I also live a life with a very, very short confession scope. Like if I sin, I confess. That's just how I live. And so if I'm in a situation where someone is making me feel like, if I don't come down front or raise my hand or whatever to demonstrate that repentance, that somehow I haven't, if I'm in that situation, I have learned to just resist it. And I've learned to go inward and decide whether I am in the faith or not. And that's as someone who is in the faith. And that maybe is where you are. But I think there's also another resistance: people who confess Jesus, but they live like the devil and they have learned to resist that call, too. And I think that resistance can look the same but it's totally different. And so my messages recently have spoken to the latter. That's my preacher's burden that I'm carrying these days. There are many who say, "Lord! Lord!" But they live like " The Devil! The Devil!" And honestly, they live like " Me! Me! I am my own Lord." And I just want to say that's a scary position to be in. I want to be clear. I do not believe that if you sin, you have to get right with God again. On the other hand, I do believe that if you sin willfully, you do need to get right with God again. Let me explain what I mean. "All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved!" When you put your faith in the Lord, when you call out to him, "Save me from my sins," when we put our faith in Jesus, he frees us from our sins. He does. You receive eternal life when you put your faith in Jesus. But, I've noticed that some believe that if they've simply prayed the prayer, they can go on living however they want to, and they have a get out of jail free card, a get into heaven free pass. If you are someone who prayed the sinner's prayer, "Lord, save me, I'm a sinner." And you believe that that has secured your position in heaven. And so now you are living after sin. With no gut check, with no self discipline, you are simply living a flesh driven life. A worldly life. Then you need to tremble. Not because God is paying attention to all your little sins and saying, "Yep, he did another one; she did another one. I don't think I can save her now." It's not about that. He forgives you when you seek him. He forgives you when you call out to him. But he also calls your bluff when you're not sincere in it. And so we read where Jesus said, in Matthew 7, he says, " Not everyone who says to me, ' Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven. But only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." He says, " Many will say to me on that day, ' Lord Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?'" And he says, "Then I will tell them plainly, ' I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.'" It's possible to be one who calls out, "Lord! Lord! Jesus, you are my Lord," and to even demonstrate faith by casting out demons and prophesying, and even demonstrate faith in ways that we might look and the world might look and say, "Ah, it's signs and wonders." It's possible to be one who does those things, who demonstrates their faith -- and I'm not saying this to upset you. I'm saying this to encourage you to lean in and to get rooted -- it's possible for those who say, "Lord, Lord," to also be those who do not do the will of the Father. Now I'm not talking about God's will for your life, whether you become an accountant or a carpenter. That's not what this is. The will of God is to put your faith in Jesus, to follow after him, to live for him, to open your heart to the Holy Spirit, to let the Holy Spirit lead you, to know him intimately like that. And so recently I read in Hebrews 10, where it says, " If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment, and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God." It says, "For we know him [God] who said, ' It is mine to avenge. I will repay.'" And again, "The Lord will judge his people. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." And we read on down, it says, "You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. We do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved." Yes, that passage is not about whether you accidentally give in to that sin that trips you up. It's not about that. That passage is not about whether you give in to anger or give in to lust or give in to greed . That passage is about whether you call out "Lord, Lord," and then you don't do the will of God; you call out "Lord, Lord," and then you turn your back on Him; whether you call out "Lord, Lord," and then you deny Him. Everything in me wants to make it easy for you to have assurance that you are in the faith. But when I read scripture, it tells me that I can't give assurance to someone who isn't living a faithful life. That's not to say that you earn your salvation by ticks of faithfulness. That's not at all to say that you earn God's salvation through accumulated righteousness. It's not that at all. It's not to say that if you do God's will exactly, you will get into heaven. It's not saying that at all. It's saying if you cast yourself on God's mercy and then live independent of his mercy, you should not feel assured that you've really cast yourself on his mercy. And so I have this pastor's burden. And if you are the one who is tender toward God, as some friends of mine -- and I love that people have asked questions on this -- if you are someone who is tender before God, you called out "Jesus," and you live your life in dependence on him, and in fellowship with him, in intimacy with him -- and yet you also live for a time in this flesh and you do things that you had decided you weren't gonna do, and you don't do things that you had decided you were going to do, and you screw up, you sin, I don't want you at all to think that you have to go back to God and plead to be saved. His righteousness covers you, His mercy covers you, His grace covers you. If your heart is bowed down before the Lord, if you are that tender person, wow, receive it. Be encouraged, be encouraged. His salvation is secure for you. God is not fickle. He's not yes and then no. And God is not easily offended. He doesn't see you make a mistake and say, "Well, okay, I don't know if I'm on his side anymore. I don't know if I really love her anymore." That's not God. God loves you completely. Everything about my message, if you listen long enough, is that forgiveness is complete. He doesn't forgive just this sin, and then that sin, and then that sin. And, oh, you gotta repent of that sin, and ask forgiveness for that sin, or else God won't forgive you. That's not how God does it. He says, "I forgive you. I forgive you all of your sins. I forgive everything you've ever done. I bestow forgiveness on you so that we can be in relationship again." And so, if that's you, if you're tender before God, don't receive condemnation by this word. But if you're someone who, you believe that, because your parents were Christians, or because you simply call yourself a Christian, that somehow you love God, and yet you live in a way that doesn't love God? You may have affection for God, but you live in a way that loves the world, that loves the flesh. You give into whatever comes along and you're just kind of cherry picking your way through life and you're not living a life that's bowed down before the Lord, I can't tell you to be assured of your salvation. I can tell you, look at your life and if your life is not producing fruit in keeping with repentance, then my call to you is just as gentle, but it trembles a bit. My call to you is: repent. open your eyes. Turn toward the light of Jesus, away from the darkness. Turn away from the power of the Accuser, the Tempter; turn away from the power of Satan and turn to the power of God. Let Him fill you, let Him renew you, and He will. Bow, not just your head, but your shoulders. Bow your life completely to God and allow Him to renew you. Make sure -- when you test yourself -- make sure that you are truly in the faith. This isn't a message of condemnation. It's a message of encouragement. And it's in keeping with the same message that the Lord charged Paul with when he sent him as an apostle to the Jews and to the Gentiles. And Paul explains it this way in Acts 26. He's talking about when he was called by God and God told him, "I am sending you to your own people, the Jews, and to the Gentiles, to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me," Jesus says. And so Paul goes on and he says, that's what I did: "I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds." And this is simply my message to you, of encouragement, of rebuke if you need it. If you are tender before God, don't receive the rebuke, receive the encouragement. And if you are hardened toward God, the Lord rebukes you, not me. The Lord rebukes you. But he does not come to bring condemnation. He comes to bring conviction and salvation. He wants to restore you. Stop being distracted by the things of this world. Turn your heart to the Lord. And give your full attention to the Lord. Today. Even if you can look on your life and see times that you rebuked demons, or times that you spoke for God, or times that you demonstrated this sign or this wonder, even if you can see things like that, even if you know that you prayed the sinner's prayer when you were eight or whatever it is, that you were baptized, today, simply give your heart to the Lord anew. If you are tender before God, you say, "Amen!" If there's anything in you that resists that and says, "But I already did!" Ask yourself why you would resist an appeal to renew your devotion to the Lord. And so, today, may the Lord open your eyes, and turn you from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God and forgive your sins and give you a place among all who are sanctified by faith in Jesus. And there, may you demonstrate your repentance by your deeds. And I believe that when you see that in your life, you will receive that assurance that, Yes, I am in Christ. Mission Update & Call to Prayer
10/2/2023 0 Comments October 2, 2023Teaching | Mission Update & Prayers
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This Week's Teaching: "Falling Out of Love (with yourself)"
I told my wife recently that I'm falling more and more out of love.
With myself. We live full time in this RV and we have a travel channel and the nature of that travel channel is that we take video of sometimes candid moments and I get to edit it. And so I watch myself and I don't like myself. I told her I'm falling more and more out of love with myself all the time. I don't like how I talk to her. I don't like how condescending I am. I don't like how passive aggressive I am. And these are things that, if I didn't have to look at myself, I wouldn't know it. I would insist that my heart is kind and patient and I would never be passive aggressive with my wife. I would never be condescending and yet when I watch the footage, man, I don't like me. I'm falling more and more out of love with myself all the time. I'm condescending. I'm a know it all. I am impatient. I'm irritable. I can be angry. I'm fearful and that comes out in anger. I don't like me. And I can be defensive about it. And that's one of the things I see is that I'm defensive. I could be defensive about this and say, "That's not what I'm like. I'm not like that at all!" But the Lord said "Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks." And you could say out of the overflow of the heart, the life is. So I can be defensive about it, or I could just say, "Nah, I just learned something about myself, and I don't like that about me." And so I'm working on it. I'm making it a part of my contemplative moments in the morning. I'm making it a part of my confessions during the day. If I respond to her poorly, I tell her right away, "I'm sorry, that's not who I want to be. I'm sorry." And I name what it is. " I'm sorry I'm irritable." "I'm sorry that sounded so condescending." I'm falling more and more out of love with myself every day. Now, when I turn to scripture, it's a lot like looking at that video content. If I allow it to be. If I read scripture and it tells me that I'm a sinner, I can say, "No, I'm not! You should see my heart!" Or I can say, "Ah, yeah, this is the mirror. This tells me the things about myself that I don't yet understand." I can be defensive about it, or I can say, "Okay. Okay. I'll deal with the reality of this." I wonder how often you open the scripture as a mirror, as video footage of yourself. Not to defend yourself against it; not to sit in judgment on scripture; not to sit in judgment on God for claiming that you are a sinner, that you have erred and that you are still inclined to err. I wonder how often you open up scripture, not to argue with it, but to let it show you you yourself; to let it hold up a mirror for you to see, "Oh, that's why I need Jesus. That's why I need a savior. That's why I need to learn over and over and over again, through and through and through to make this private and public confession that Jesus, you are my Lord. You are my Lord. I am not my Lord. I die to that. Lord, you are my Lord. I live to you." So I want to ask you, how often do you open up the scriptures to let it sit as a mirror for you? In 2nd Corinthians 13, Paul writes, " Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves." And I'm saying use this to test yourself. In Ephesians, Paul says that " Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and the teachers..."-- and when we open up scripture, we are devoting ourselves to the apostles teaching and the prophecies, and the euangelion: the gospel, the evangel, the evangelists. "Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people and their deceitful scheming." (And we will even name our own deceitful scheming, how we deceive ourselves into doing the things that we've already decided we won't do again.) And then he says, "So I tell you this, and I insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do," meaning those who don't know the Lord. You must no longer live as those who don't know the Lord " in the futility of their thinking." Don't live like they do. "They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over..." Now let this be a mirror for you. "Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. That, however, is not the way of life that you learned." I'm reminding you, don't live the way you're inclined to live. That's not the new way of life. He says "that, however, is not the way of life that you learned" -- the new way. "... you were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by his deceitful desires, to be made new in the attitude of your minds, and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." See whether this, like myself, where I say I'm just falling more and more out of love with myself every day, meaning I'm learning to love holiness and righteousness and to pursue something that I'm not inclined to be in the flesh. "Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood..." says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you... Walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality or of any kind of impurity or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking which are out of place, but rather let there be thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure, no immoral, impure, or greedy person, such a person as an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of God. Let no one deceive you..." You can read the rest yourself. I wonder if you've bought into this lie that we're supposed to love ourselves, that we're supposed to learn to more and more love ourselves, that we're supposed to become in love with ourselves? It's a lie. It's a lie. Become more and more in love with Jesus. Colossians 3: " Set your minds on things above." Set your hearts on Christ. Revere Christ and worship Him. Bow your life in His honor. Stop looking into the mirror to gaze upon your loveliness. Paul says elsewhere that "those who judge themselves by themselves are not wise." It's foolish. Stop gazing at yourself to reawaken love for yourself. That is not where the strength is, that is where the weakness is. Rather, stare into scripture. Let it be the mirror that shows you yourself. If you object to it, don't argue with it. Accept it. Accept it. Are you falling more and more out of love with yourself every day? You should be. And that's not saying you need to walk around mopey and everything. That's saying that, until you learn that this life is not about you, but that your life is all about him, you will continue to live in this self absorbed misery about how much you hate yourself and you just need to learn to love yourself and all that. But when you die to self, and when you prefer Christ's honor above your own, and when you are quick to confess your failings and your needs, and you are quick to, every day, say, "I'm a sinner, Lord, in need of mercy. Thank you for your mercy." When you learn to do that, then you can live with gratitude that's rooted in reality, not in just what you wish things could be. I think it's a hard message these days. It used to be the norm. I think it's a hard message these days for people to hear because we have been so inundated with this false teaching that we just need to love ourselves. Love God. Love your neighbor. Do that, and it'll go well with you. So, more and more out of love with myself every day, and it's good. There is peace there, and there is joy there, and there is a "speaking the truth in love" there. And that's what I do to you today. I hope you receive it. Amen. Mission Update & Prayers
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AuthorRoger Shenk is the pastor of X242, a network of microchurches. Archives
July 2024
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