This post is a part of a larger essay I am working on. It was proceeded by some paragraphs on what "poor in spirit" means and is considering the richness of the promise "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven".
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“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”
Here is possibly the grandest promise of all Scriptures. All the moral beauty of the Kingdom of heaven is promised to the poor in Spirit. This promise is our faith.
We believe in the immediate presence of the Kingdom of God to those who put their faith in the person, power and principles of Jesus Christ. We believe that the Kingdom of God is present for those who immediately, today, moment by moment, acknowledge to God their absolute spiritual poverty. We believe that the Messiah Jesus pours out His Holy Spirit into the poor in Spirit that He might do for them what they cannot do for themselves. He makes us and our loved ones beautiful from the inside out. He does this without respect to anything that man respects. He is no respecter of persons. He meets the spiritual hunger of the financially rich and the financially poor and even the middle class. He meets the spiritual need of the respectable and the despised. He calls His own not the black or the white or the brown or the yellow or red, terms which man has invented to their own detriment, but He shares His inheritance with those who realize that one’s nature is filled with all types of uncleanness and vile motives and thoughts. We know and understand that we cannot change our nature. Can a leopard change his spots? So we have chosen a path of hopelessness with respect to our own ability to reform ourselves. We will never change so long as we rely on our own will power or self knowledge.
And then the follower of Jesus hears these words from the Messiah, the Savior of the World. We are like the woman at the well. The problem we find ourselves in morally is not the first time down this road. We are who we are…Then the Messiah says to us, “He who drinks the water that I give shall never thirst and shall have flowing out of them living water, over flowing”. So too we respond, “Where can I find this water?”
This water is the power of the Holy Spirit. Our problem is a total lack of power. We could dream dreams of righteousness. We could make new resolutions. We could even pray for help from God. But we found ourselves walking in circles and in fact we were digging ourselves in a hole. Now we hear this promise and we are willing to give it a try.
Jesus by saying that the Kingdom of heaven is available to the poor in spirit is saying in essence, “OK, I have seen your attempts at self reformation. Now let me show you the work of My Spirit in your life”. Truly, unless the LORD builds the house those who labor labor in vain.
This first principle of the kingdom that the poor in spirit are blessed, that we must have an abiding knowledge of our own spiritual poverty is like a coin with two sides. One side is the principle of powerlessness and the other is the side of faith in the power of the Holy Spirit whom the Messiah gives freely to all who acknowledge their powerlessness.
Mourning and Moral Beauty
In the old Puritan days, it was understood that to see one’s sinfulness clearly was a good sign of spiritual awakening. This honest acknowledgement before God of our wretched history is the blessing of mourning. We see that we are not beautiful on the inside at all. We are filled with lusts for prominence or material possessions. We live possibly a life of personal and private happiness and realize that this is self-serving and selfish. We see the true calling to care for the poor of the world and to serve God. We see that we are not submissive wives or pictures of virtue for our children. In all things in fact, we are hypocrites. I for one speak of generosity and simplicity but I lack faith often to sacrifice my treasures for the needy. We have habits that rob us of true happiness. We know the feeling of shame that follows sin. In fact, we know this feeling all too well. We may know what it is like to be drunk or intoxicated. Other may know what it is like to be drunk with lust or anger. Or what it is like to feel “hung over” after a long argument that started over some petty matter. We were crossed and we were offended. So we defended ourselves and found ourselves unable to control our tongue. We may be manipulative and controlling using all sorts of passive aggressive means from self pity to any matter of ways of withholding our peace. In short, we find that we are not morally beautiful or spiritually beautiful.
So here is the promise. “I will make you morally beautiful.”, says Jesus Christ the Messiah. We are the woman at the well, indeed.
Picture, yourself as a consistently loving and gentle person. Picture what a blessing you could be if your mouth always spoke from the heart encouraging words. Imagine a life without regret and guilt and shame. Jesus Christ can do this for you and for me for He is the one who pours out into us His Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the life of God in our soul. The Holy Spirit is the life of Jesus Christ. We can live like Jesus Christ. Who can live like Jesus Christ? The poor in spirit. The one’s who mourn over their moral depravity and utter moral failures. We who realize our utter hopelessness and have come to an end of all foolish attempts to reform ourselves can have the very Moral Beauty of Jesus Christ displayed through us.
Are you as morally depraved as the prostitute on the street corner? I am worse. Far worse. I am a pastor and, left to myself, in time, I will do worse than her if I would not be found out. What about the gangster executioner with no moral qualms at all. We have other means but do we not harm other in a million ways. If we thought such methods would work to bring ourselves prominence in our social setting, like the young man who shoots an innocent by-stander, we would do the same. Same game; different rules. Same theme; different plot, scene, and actors but still the same heart that motivates us all.
To us, who forsake all attempts to bring this dead man from utter depravity to some semblance of sanity and moral health, to us, who find that the years bring not a progressive growth in righteousness but find that the “old man is being corrupted daily”, to us there is a glorious exchange - our filthy rags for His moral excellence and perfect love.
The Messiah has come and He is all around us pouring out His Holy Spirit on the poor beggars who rend their hearts and cry out, “Woe to me a sinner!!! Only say the word and I shall be healed”. The Holy Spirit!!! The Holy Spirit is within reach. He is immediately present that we might feel the love of God for us and flowing through us to others. A foolish notion. A dream. We who are so weak are going to find that this weakness is a great asset in spiritual matters. It is when we are weak that He is strong.
Picture the immediate presence of God’s love. Picture the most beautiful scene in all creation. Picture Yosemite Valley. This beauty is God’s handiwork. And you too are His workmanship. The power of God which meets our powerlessness is there to help us moment by moment to live the life of Jesus Christ. We follow Him because He feeds us from His hand. We follow Him because we are spiritual beggars. He has the words of eternal life that lead us out of our natural way of thinking. We follow Him because we are so destitute without His power, a power that He gives one day at a time like the manna in the wilderness. We follow Him because we know that if we do not we could so easily find ourselves in a shameful circumstance. Truly our weakness is one of our greatest gifts. Now, we have found a solution that meets our spiritual need. We have found the kingdom of heaven. We have found a power from the Holy Spirit, the life of Christ Himself. We find this power as we come to accept our own powerlessness.
To God be the Glory, Amen.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Monday, June 12, 2006
News on Our Ministry
I thought since the nature of this blog has changed a lot in the past six months that I ought to share a bit of personal history. I am no longer serving as pastor at Trinity CRC. We, our small group, are looking into church planting and home church models but are yet undecided. We still are members of Trinity and love the church dearly, but I am no longer the pastor.
So that is all you will hear about that...so from now on when I say "our church", I will mean "our home church" or "our small group". For me, the term church means the people with whom I am working out discipleship and mission. Let the reformation continue!!!!
What we are currently doing church wise.
1. I feel the idea of church shopping is not a covenantal approach to faith. As human beings, we are fundamentally social and relational beings. The church is the people we live with. So together with the people that we have lived out our faith over the last 3 years, we will pray and ask the Lord what is the next step in expanding the kingdom in our time and space.
2. My first guess is that we have learned discipleship very deeply in the last 2 years and now it is time to learn MISSION MISSION MISSION.
3. For me, my fishing pole is music. So much of my time in this next year will be spent in helping our small group live out the mission of bringing the person, the power, and the principles of Jesus Christ to our immediate neighbors by playing music...and creating a nuisance.
God Bless, brad
So that is all you will hear about that...so from now on when I say "our church", I will mean "our home church" or "our small group". For me, the term church means the people with whom I am working out discipleship and mission. Let the reformation continue!!!!
What we are currently doing church wise.
1. I feel the idea of church shopping is not a covenantal approach to faith. As human beings, we are fundamentally social and relational beings. The church is the people we live with. So together with the people that we have lived out our faith over the last 3 years, we will pray and ask the Lord what is the next step in expanding the kingdom in our time and space.
2. My first guess is that we have learned discipleship very deeply in the last 2 years and now it is time to learn MISSION MISSION MISSION.
3. For me, my fishing pole is music. So much of my time in this next year will be spent in helping our small group live out the mission of bringing the person, the power, and the principles of Jesus Christ to our immediate neighbors by playing music...and creating a nuisance.
God Bless, brad
Sunday, June 11, 2006
JOLLYBLOGGER: Defining Neocalvinism?
JOLLYBLOGGER: Defining Neocalvinism? read the comments.
On Neo-Calvinism
Lots of talk about what blogs and books to read. I personally do not know enough about neo-calvinism to be too positive. Neo-Calvinism tends to be non-ecclesiastical, and I believe our only vocation is in the church. So naturally, I trend away from neo-Calvinism.
On Neo-Calvinism
Lots of talk about what blogs and books to read. I personally do not know enough about neo-calvinism to be too positive. Neo-Calvinism tends to be non-ecclesiastical, and I believe our only vocation is in the church. So naturally, I trend away from neo-Calvinism.
Friday, June 02, 2006
The Mechanism of Discpleship
A few links to old posts on method:
In Defense of Method
Discipleship 101
The Mechanism of Discpleship
In this post I would like to discuss the concept of mechanism. A mechanism is the tool in which the method is delivered. The combination of method and mechanism is necessary to effectively disciple. The mechanism of all discipleship is community. It is the community of believers and our relationships in the culture of the body of Christ through which the discipleship teachings of Jesus are delivered. The way of Jesus Christ is caught not taught. Or more precisely the mechanism for teaching is socialization in community. We learn by doing not by hearing. As we live together, we learn a new life and a new story of what it means to be truly human together.
This community life is the life of the small group of the home church.
The Mechanism of Discipleship is the Home Church.
I use the term home church as opposed to small group here only because we often have many preconceived notions concerning small group. To many of us we associate small group with something, we do once a week and which is primarily bible study. In this model, the sermon or academic method is used but the building is a home as opposed to an auditorium. The method is the same as the sermon. Because this model is not the model I am speaking of here, I refrain from using the term small group and instead use home church. The home church is the place where we live and accomplish mission together. The purpose of home church is community and mission and not just the dissemination of information. Home church is to mechanism for discipleship and discipleship is the learning of a new way of life which is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. We learn this new and spiritual way of power and mission and love in the context of the family of home church. Though bible study happens in “home church”, the purpose of home church is not bible study but discipleship and mission. Home church is the mechanism of discipleship. If we are to use the term small group, I would qualify this and say the monastic and missional small group.
The Necessity of Immersion – The New Monastic
If anyone has ever attempted to change some aspect of their character or has struggled with addictions, then you understand how difficult change is. Discipleship is about this level of dramatic change of our approach to life. Loving our enemies, not worrying about tomorrow, ceasing to lust after the world, living in love and fearlessness is a totally new way of life. I find that I personally need to be encouraged every day if I am to maintain such a spiritual perspective. It is absolutely impossible to change alone. Instead what we need is total immersion in a new culture. This new culture is the home church.
(Note: By home church, I am not intending to imply something which necessarily excludes a traditional Sunday church celebration.)
Today, our home church only meets weekly, but I find for my own spiritual walk this is completely inadequate. I need total immersion. I have friends who are seeking to maintain their spiritual program and spiritual walk, and they find that they forget from week to week. They find that their spiritual life ebbs and flows. This experience is due to the lack of total immersion. If we are to bring freedom to people, we must be able to offer them total immersion in the life of the kingdom through the mechanism of the home church.
My goal is to provide for those who seek it both a method and a mechanism to enter into the kingdom of God – a truly happy and heavenly quality of life. That method is found in the Sermon on the Mount and the principles of discipleship and the mechanism is the home church or monastic and missional small group.
In Defense of Method
Discipleship 101
The Mechanism of Discpleship
In this post I would like to discuss the concept of mechanism. A mechanism is the tool in which the method is delivered. The combination of method and mechanism is necessary to effectively disciple. The mechanism of all discipleship is community. It is the community of believers and our relationships in the culture of the body of Christ through which the discipleship teachings of Jesus are delivered. The way of Jesus Christ is caught not taught. Or more precisely the mechanism for teaching is socialization in community. We learn by doing not by hearing. As we live together, we learn a new life and a new story of what it means to be truly human together.
This community life is the life of the small group of the home church.
The Mechanism of Discipleship is the Home Church.
I use the term home church as opposed to small group here only because we often have many preconceived notions concerning small group. To many of us we associate small group with something, we do once a week and which is primarily bible study. In this model, the sermon or academic method is used but the building is a home as opposed to an auditorium. The method is the same as the sermon. Because this model is not the model I am speaking of here, I refrain from using the term small group and instead use home church. The home church is the place where we live and accomplish mission together. The purpose of home church is community and mission and not just the dissemination of information. Home church is to mechanism for discipleship and discipleship is the learning of a new way of life which is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. We learn this new and spiritual way of power and mission and love in the context of the family of home church. Though bible study happens in “home church”, the purpose of home church is not bible study but discipleship and mission. Home church is the mechanism of discipleship. If we are to use the term small group, I would qualify this and say the monastic and missional small group.
The Necessity of Immersion – The New Monastic
If anyone has ever attempted to change some aspect of their character or has struggled with addictions, then you understand how difficult change is. Discipleship is about this level of dramatic change of our approach to life. Loving our enemies, not worrying about tomorrow, ceasing to lust after the world, living in love and fearlessness is a totally new way of life. I find that I personally need to be encouraged every day if I am to maintain such a spiritual perspective. It is absolutely impossible to change alone. Instead what we need is total immersion in a new culture. This new culture is the home church.
(Note: By home church, I am not intending to imply something which necessarily excludes a traditional Sunday church celebration.)
Today, our home church only meets weekly, but I find for my own spiritual walk this is completely inadequate. I need total immersion. I have friends who are seeking to maintain their spiritual program and spiritual walk, and they find that they forget from week to week. They find that their spiritual life ebbs and flows. This experience is due to the lack of total immersion. If we are to bring freedom to people, we must be able to offer them total immersion in the life of the kingdom through the mechanism of the home church.
My goal is to provide for those who seek it both a method and a mechanism to enter into the kingdom of God – a truly happy and heavenly quality of life. That method is found in the Sermon on the Mount and the principles of discipleship and the mechanism is the home church or monastic and missional small group.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Miscellanies on the Gospel on the Da Vinci Code
Da Vinci Code and Historical Christianity - Part 4
Rob Wilkerson does a great job reviewing the historical record and the fictional book the Da Vinci Code. Very good treatment.
Da Vinci Code and Historical Christianity - Part 1
Da Vinci Code and Historical Christianity - Part 2
Da Vinci Code and Historical Christianity - Part 3
brad
Rob Wilkerson does a great job reviewing the historical record and the fictional book the Da Vinci Code. Very good treatment.
Da Vinci Code and Historical Christianity - Part 1
Da Vinci Code and Historical Christianity - Part 2
Da Vinci Code and Historical Christianity - Part 3
brad
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Link - incarnation's Living
Common Grounds Online: Corey Widmer, The Trial of the Incarnation
This is a good article about a faith community facing the difficulty of living in a more dangerous neighborhood.
As for our family, we have six kids, and we live at times with strangers in our home. This poses a similar dilemma. The question is what do you want your kids to learn is Godliness. Is it Godly to avoid the beaten up people of the world and move to the other side of the street or is it best to draw near to the broken and bind their wounds. If we teach the former, we teach our children a gospel of worldly comfort and isolation, but if we teach the latter we teach the compassion and love of God. Sure there is a price to teach this about God but if God had been this protective of His Son, Jesus would never have moved to our neighborhood and suffered with and for us.
This is a good article about a faith community facing the difficulty of living in a more dangerous neighborhood.
As for our family, we have six kids, and we live at times with strangers in our home. This poses a similar dilemma. The question is what do you want your kids to learn is Godliness. Is it Godly to avoid the beaten up people of the world and move to the other side of the street or is it best to draw near to the broken and bind their wounds. If we teach the former, we teach our children a gospel of worldly comfort and isolation, but if we teach the latter we teach the compassion and love of God. Sure there is a price to teach this about God but if God had been this protective of His Son, Jesus would never have moved to our neighborhood and suffered with and for us.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
A Fool for Christ and His Money
A disciple of Jesus is someone who is learning to follow the sayings of Jesus through the power of His life. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. But this yoke is not ease like the world sees ease. His peace is not like the peace and ease the world can give a man. But His yoke is the only true path to peace and service that abides in a love from the heart. His yoke is the cross.
Jesus’ sayings about Money
Do not Store up Treasures on Earth
Jesus’ first and foremost saying about money is very simple. Do not store up treasures on earth. This is a very simple command. It means do not store up treasures on earth. For where your treasure is so too is your heart. Those Hebrew rabbis were a very practical bunch. Some think Jesus is saying, if you treasure something then there is your heart. But that is a nonsense or no value statement. Jesus is not saying “where your heart is there your heart is” of “if your heart is in earthly things, then your heart is in earthly things”. No Jesus is saying that you know a tree by its fruit and if you have treasures on earth then that shows objectively that your heart is carnal and worldly. If we have lots of stuff, then it means we are valuing things by the world’s definitions of values. Our kingdom values and principles are the exact opposite of the worlds values. Simply, we as Christians value people over things.
A treasure is defined as a luxury item. If you have a choice to spend 1000 on something you do not need like a nicer car or a room addition on your home and you spend your money on this thing that can rust and corrode, then you are storing up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy. It is that simple.
1 John says that “if we have material possessions, and behold our brother in need and do not meet that need then we do not possess the love of God” This saying too is quite easy to understand. If you are aware of a human need and you have material possessions then we share them. Well, there is a great deal of need out there, so the job of the good steward is not to withhold from one but to give to the most likely to receive in a worthy manner. Our job in the service of God is to be generous – wisely.
So many close there hands because they deem the one’s that we gave too in the past are not worthy. This I think is only acceptable if your funds are already earmarked for a worthy candidate.
Jesus said use your money in such a way that when you enter heavenly dwellings many will greet you with open arms. To give in such a way, extravagantly so that people will rejoice when they see you in heaven requires that the both extravagance and wisdom. All our money is dedicated to the kingdom and all our money is dedicated to meeting the needs of others. My only need for money is to provide for my personal food and shelter but other than that we ought to provide the necessities of those around us. We provide for our families food and shelter and for the poor Christians around the world and for the poor who are in desperate need as a result of the injustices of the world.
So what does this look like?
Well, it seems very simple to me.
First, we need to be very compassion focused in our money. The command is to be understood as denying self as an end in itself but taking up our cross and denying ourselves for the sake of the world. Jesus didn’t die on the cross as an act of religious piety but was driven by love for a lost and dying world in need of communion with the Father and power from the Holy Spirit. We are not driven by guilt and obligation but love and compassion.
Go
So we start with doing ministry and opening our eyes to the world. If we see as Jesus sees and we see the heart of God and the reward in heaven for those who give away a cup of cold water, we will live a life of simplicity in order to be as extravagant and as wisely generous as possible.
Disciple the Kids
We will not feel compelled to give our children treasures as in luxury items like cell phones and iPods but we will lead them to become disciples by our example. If my child see the no which I say to them as a yes I am saying the poor all around us then they too will find the mission of the Kingdom with us.
Play the Field
We sow lots of seed. If we feel that our giving is not always so wise then find some other people group to empower and develop economically. Get involved in a “worthy” cause.
Live By Different Values
There are millions of way to decrease your monthly budget. Live in community. If our goal is to be more generous every year and not to grow in wealth, we will never think of upgrading. Simplicity for the sake of the suffering of the world.
The End of All This Compassionate Lifestyle
The end of all of these sayings of Jesus is a life without fear. The world’s security comes from money. The world creates safety with a monetary safety net but we trust in the Lord. Jesus speaking of the life of generosity said, “Yeah of little faith. Look at the lilies of the field. They do not store in barns and their heavenly father clothes them.” God can do for you in terms of providing peace far better than the world. He can do for you what you could not do for yourself and the end of this faith is a life of communion with God and the peace and joy of the Kingdom.
God Bless,
brad
Jesus’ sayings about Money
Do not Store up Treasures on Earth
Jesus’ first and foremost saying about money is very simple. Do not store up treasures on earth. This is a very simple command. It means do not store up treasures on earth. For where your treasure is so too is your heart. Those Hebrew rabbis were a very practical bunch. Some think Jesus is saying, if you treasure something then there is your heart. But that is a nonsense or no value statement. Jesus is not saying “where your heart is there your heart is” of “if your heart is in earthly things, then your heart is in earthly things”. No Jesus is saying that you know a tree by its fruit and if you have treasures on earth then that shows objectively that your heart is carnal and worldly. If we have lots of stuff, then it means we are valuing things by the world’s definitions of values. Our kingdom values and principles are the exact opposite of the worlds values. Simply, we as Christians value people over things.
A treasure is defined as a luxury item. If you have a choice to spend 1000 on something you do not need like a nicer car or a room addition on your home and you spend your money on this thing that can rust and corrode, then you are storing up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy. It is that simple.
1 John says that “if we have material possessions, and behold our brother in need and do not meet that need then we do not possess the love of God” This saying too is quite easy to understand. If you are aware of a human need and you have material possessions then we share them. Well, there is a great deal of need out there, so the job of the good steward is not to withhold from one but to give to the most likely to receive in a worthy manner. Our job in the service of God is to be generous – wisely.
So many close there hands because they deem the one’s that we gave too in the past are not worthy. This I think is only acceptable if your funds are already earmarked for a worthy candidate.
Jesus said use your money in such a way that when you enter heavenly dwellings many will greet you with open arms. To give in such a way, extravagantly so that people will rejoice when they see you in heaven requires that the both extravagance and wisdom. All our money is dedicated to the kingdom and all our money is dedicated to meeting the needs of others. My only need for money is to provide for my personal food and shelter but other than that we ought to provide the necessities of those around us. We provide for our families food and shelter and for the poor Christians around the world and for the poor who are in desperate need as a result of the injustices of the world.
So what does this look like?
Well, it seems very simple to me.
First, we need to be very compassion focused in our money. The command is to be understood as denying self as an end in itself but taking up our cross and denying ourselves for the sake of the world. Jesus didn’t die on the cross as an act of religious piety but was driven by love for a lost and dying world in need of communion with the Father and power from the Holy Spirit. We are not driven by guilt and obligation but love and compassion.
Go
So we start with doing ministry and opening our eyes to the world. If we see as Jesus sees and we see the heart of God and the reward in heaven for those who give away a cup of cold water, we will live a life of simplicity in order to be as extravagant and as wisely generous as possible.
Disciple the Kids
We will not feel compelled to give our children treasures as in luxury items like cell phones and iPods but we will lead them to become disciples by our example. If my child see the no which I say to them as a yes I am saying the poor all around us then they too will find the mission of the Kingdom with us.
Play the Field
We sow lots of seed. If we feel that our giving is not always so wise then find some other people group to empower and develop economically. Get involved in a “worthy” cause.
Live By Different Values
There are millions of way to decrease your monthly budget. Live in community. If our goal is to be more generous every year and not to grow in wealth, we will never think of upgrading. Simplicity for the sake of the suffering of the world.
The End of All This Compassionate Lifestyle
The end of all of these sayings of Jesus is a life without fear. The world’s security comes from money. The world creates safety with a monetary safety net but we trust in the Lord. Jesus speaking of the life of generosity said, “Yeah of little faith. Look at the lilies of the field. They do not store in barns and their heavenly father clothes them.” God can do for you in terms of providing peace far better than the world. He can do for you what you could not do for yourself and the end of this faith is a life of communion with God and the peace and joy of the Kingdom.
God Bless,
brad
Saturday, May 20, 2006
The Muratorian Fragment - The Canon and the Da Vinci Code
The Muratorian Fragment
In The Da Vinci Code, Brown makes assertions that Constantine choose the books of the bible. This is just willful ignorance or worse. For example, The Muratorian Fragment is accepted as being written about 170AD and lists the books of the bible almost exactly as they are accepted today. The only issues unresolved were the issues regarding "the disputed books" which are basically Hebrews, James and 2nd and 3rd John. None of these councils are news to any student of history. None of the "other gospels" were ever considered, and, even as early as 170AD, we can see that the basic rules for being seen as worthy of being read in church are clear. Was the book written in the age of the apostles and by a credible witness?
The Da Vinci Code simply plays on people's fancies and ignorance. I will write more simple pieces on this movie and novel as I feel I can add a simple concise analysis which might be helpful.
For more information see here...The Canon and the Disputed Books
In The Da Vinci Code, Brown makes assertions that Constantine choose the books of the bible. This is just willful ignorance or worse. For example, The Muratorian Fragment is accepted as being written about 170AD and lists the books of the bible almost exactly as they are accepted today. The only issues unresolved were the issues regarding "the disputed books" which are basically Hebrews, James and 2nd and 3rd John. None of these councils are news to any student of history. None of the "other gospels" were ever considered, and, even as early as 170AD, we can see that the basic rules for being seen as worthy of being read in church are clear. Was the book written in the age of the apostles and by a credible witness?
The Da Vinci Code simply plays on people's fancies and ignorance. I will write more simple pieces on this movie and novel as I feel I can add a simple concise analysis which might be helpful.
For more information see here...The Canon and the Disputed Books
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Matisyahu - 2006 Tour Review
Matisyahu played the Weenie Roast in LA this weekend. I have been looking for a review. I only found this great review from an earlier show in the tour. Here is a great reviewReview from March 2006.
Also, here are some great pics..
Friday, May 12, 2006
Fearlessness - “What if Jesus had Played His Politics Better?”
When Jesus stood before Pilate some very telling words were spoken by the politician to the prophet. Pilate said, “Do you not know that I have the power to grant your freedom or to crucify you?” To this Jesus said, “You only have the power my Father gives you.” (John 19:10-11). Here is the juxtaposition of the natural man and the spiritual man, the carnal mind and the mind of Christ, the political way and the way of truth. The reality is that Jesus was the only truly free man precisely because He did not live in the fear of people’s opinions or the fear of man. Jesus does not defend Himself. Jesus does not consider how He can save His life. Jesus doesn’t manipulate or place some political duress on Pilate. Instead, Jesus tests Pilate’s commitment to truth and justice.
Another conversation between the politician and the prophet is equally revealing of the contrast of these two ways, the political and the spiritual. Jesus says, “My kingdom is not of this realm. If it were my servants would be fighting. Indeed, to be a king I came into this world. For this reason I came into the world, to testify of the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
There is a political realm in which men succeed, and there is a spiritual realm in which men succeed. You cannot have both. These two ways are at enmity with each other. Eventually, and actually quite often, the truth will contradict political considerations. The truth will be a liability for the politician, and the truth will need to be compromised for political reasons. "What then is the politician to do?" Well, Pilate gives us the answer when he says, “What is truth?” Truth to the politician is a political construct. To the politician, truth is whatever the powerful say it is. But truth is NOT a political construct. Truth is from God and is what it is. Truth is reality whether it is politically expedient of not. So how did Jesus live in light of political dynamics?
Jesus was fearless. Jesus lived perfectly aware of political realities, and He refused to play politics and actually intentionally surfaced the sinfulness and selfish motives of those in political power. For example, Jesus knew he had conflict in Jerusalem and knew that if he surfaced the hypocrisy of the political elite, they would crucify Him. Jesus predicted this outcome. So what did He do? Jesus fearlessly pressed the issue and rode into Jerusalem. He went straight to the temple, turned over the tables, and said, “You greedy money-changers have made my Father’s house into a den of robbers. My Father’s house shall be a house of prayer for all ethnicities.” The Jewish leaders had a racket going where they made money off the fact that families that were not ethnic Hebrews had to exchange their currency to pay their tithes. So they took a profit from the exchange. Jesus hit the political powers right where it hurts, in the pocket book. The result was that He angered those in power and six days later Jesus was dead.
Was it only Jesus that acted this way? Was Jesus the only prophetic figure that called the powers that be hypocrites and sinners to His own physical harm? No, actually all biblical leaders act contrary to what is politically expedient. John the Baptist told Herod he could not marry his brother’s wife so Herod killed him. Paul was told he would be beaten and killed if he went to Jerusalem so Paul went to Jerusalem. Jesus said, “I did not come to bring peace but division.” Anyone who testifies to the truth, even with all their faults, will suffer. Yes, people will make up excuses and lies to justify their rejection of the word of God but in reality the problem is all political. Politics is the enemy of the truth.
So can we have our cake and eat it too? Here is the BIG, BIG question!!!! Why “step in it” all the time? Why act in such a way as to cause conflict? Why didn’t Jesus or John or Paul just play politics for the sake of the ministry? Think about it. Jesus could have played the game and healed the sick at the same time. Jesus could have pleased the carnal people and still done His ministry to the needy and would have ended up with a world wide healing ministry. Jesus was very popular with the weaker half of the people and all He had to do was play His politics and He could have done so much good. Paul could have just taken other people’s counsel and avoided the whole ugly problem of getting one’s head chopped off. John the Baptist could have just let this one little act of adultery slide and he could have been an apostle. But no, all these prophetic men had to speak out and press the issue. There are many very important lessons to learn from the lives of the prophets.
First, the prophets lived with no fear and this fearlessness was the core of their blessedness. Fear is the source of so much sorrow. Jesus or Paul could have played good politics but then they would not have led all of us out of fear into the kingdom. Jesus is our leader and we follow Him out of fear into happiness. Fear and politics is the enemy. Fearlessness and the truth is the answer though it comes with suffering. Those prophets on the side of truth live the truly happy and heavenly life in which there is no fear. In no instance can these men of God chose fear and politics over obedience and courage. This fearlessness is a witness to the path of peace.
Secondly, true leadership surfaces problems and surfaces sin. True leadership does not play politics and people please. If leaders in the church make decisions by taking polls and considering political or financial ramifications, they have ceased, in the instance, following Christ. This principle is a complete indictment of the seeker sensitive approach. The seeker sensitive approach is not bad because it seeks to use wise means to win the lost but because it actually articulates the motive for using wise means as being seeker sensitive. In other words, if the motive is fear of people or people pleasing, then the approach is completely carnal and Godless. It is being “sensitive” (which is another word for fearful) of people’s opinions and catering to people’s preferences which has created the consumeristic attitudes in the church. We, the church, have lost our way because we have lost our prophetic edge.
We have dummied-down and watered down the gospel for the sake of the middle-class and in so doing have undermined our mission to make disciples who take up the cross while it is the cross that is the path of discipleship.
The conclusion of the matter is this: No matter what people say never avoid conflict for political motives. What people call pastoral these days is nothing more than being an enemy of the truth and compromising the truth. This approach is not the way of the cross, the way of Christ. Martyn Lloyd-Jones used to say, “I may not be the nicest guy but I am right”. In other words, people may not like me, but I speak the truth. I may not be a schmoozer but I am a preacher. Lloyd-Jones wasn’t nice and neither was Jesus. The preacher must never be a schmoozer or a politician. To do so is simply to cease following Christ and, instead, for at least that moment, to follow Pilate, the politician.
Another conversation between the politician and the prophet is equally revealing of the contrast of these two ways, the political and the spiritual. Jesus says, “My kingdom is not of this realm. If it were my servants would be fighting. Indeed, to be a king I came into this world. For this reason I came into the world, to testify of the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
There is a political realm in which men succeed, and there is a spiritual realm in which men succeed. You cannot have both. These two ways are at enmity with each other. Eventually, and actually quite often, the truth will contradict political considerations. The truth will be a liability for the politician, and the truth will need to be compromised for political reasons. "What then is the politician to do?" Well, Pilate gives us the answer when he says, “What is truth?” Truth to the politician is a political construct. To the politician, truth is whatever the powerful say it is. But truth is NOT a political construct. Truth is from God and is what it is. Truth is reality whether it is politically expedient of not. So how did Jesus live in light of political dynamics?
Jesus was fearless. Jesus lived perfectly aware of political realities, and He refused to play politics and actually intentionally surfaced the sinfulness and selfish motives of those in political power. For example, Jesus knew he had conflict in Jerusalem and knew that if he surfaced the hypocrisy of the political elite, they would crucify Him. Jesus predicted this outcome. So what did He do? Jesus fearlessly pressed the issue and rode into Jerusalem. He went straight to the temple, turned over the tables, and said, “You greedy money-changers have made my Father’s house into a den of robbers. My Father’s house shall be a house of prayer for all ethnicities.” The Jewish leaders had a racket going where they made money off the fact that families that were not ethnic Hebrews had to exchange their currency to pay their tithes. So they took a profit from the exchange. Jesus hit the political powers right where it hurts, in the pocket book. The result was that He angered those in power and six days later Jesus was dead.
Was it only Jesus that acted this way? Was Jesus the only prophetic figure that called the powers that be hypocrites and sinners to His own physical harm? No, actually all biblical leaders act contrary to what is politically expedient. John the Baptist told Herod he could not marry his brother’s wife so Herod killed him. Paul was told he would be beaten and killed if he went to Jerusalem so Paul went to Jerusalem. Jesus said, “I did not come to bring peace but division.” Anyone who testifies to the truth, even with all their faults, will suffer. Yes, people will make up excuses and lies to justify their rejection of the word of God but in reality the problem is all political. Politics is the enemy of the truth.
So can we have our cake and eat it too? Here is the BIG, BIG question!!!! Why “step in it” all the time? Why act in such a way as to cause conflict? Why didn’t Jesus or John or Paul just play politics for the sake of the ministry? Think about it. Jesus could have played the game and healed the sick at the same time. Jesus could have pleased the carnal people and still done His ministry to the needy and would have ended up with a world wide healing ministry. Jesus was very popular with the weaker half of the people and all He had to do was play His politics and He could have done so much good. Paul could have just taken other people’s counsel and avoided the whole ugly problem of getting one’s head chopped off. John the Baptist could have just let this one little act of adultery slide and he could have been an apostle. But no, all these prophetic men had to speak out and press the issue. There are many very important lessons to learn from the lives of the prophets.
First, the prophets lived with no fear and this fearlessness was the core of their blessedness. Fear is the source of so much sorrow. Jesus or Paul could have played good politics but then they would not have led all of us out of fear into the kingdom. Jesus is our leader and we follow Him out of fear into happiness. Fear and politics is the enemy. Fearlessness and the truth is the answer though it comes with suffering. Those prophets on the side of truth live the truly happy and heavenly life in which there is no fear. In no instance can these men of God chose fear and politics over obedience and courage. This fearlessness is a witness to the path of peace.
Secondly, true leadership surfaces problems and surfaces sin. True leadership does not play politics and people please. If leaders in the church make decisions by taking polls and considering political or financial ramifications, they have ceased, in the instance, following Christ. This principle is a complete indictment of the seeker sensitive approach. The seeker sensitive approach is not bad because it seeks to use wise means to win the lost but because it actually articulates the motive for using wise means as being seeker sensitive. In other words, if the motive is fear of people or people pleasing, then the approach is completely carnal and Godless. It is being “sensitive” (which is another word for fearful) of people’s opinions and catering to people’s preferences which has created the consumeristic attitudes in the church. We, the church, have lost our way because we have lost our prophetic edge.
We have dummied-down and watered down the gospel for the sake of the middle-class and in so doing have undermined our mission to make disciples who take up the cross while it is the cross that is the path of discipleship.
The conclusion of the matter is this: No matter what people say never avoid conflict for political motives. What people call pastoral these days is nothing more than being an enemy of the truth and compromising the truth. This approach is not the way of the cross, the way of Christ. Martyn Lloyd-Jones used to say, “I may not be the nicest guy but I am right”. In other words, people may not like me, but I speak the truth. I may not be a schmoozer but I am a preacher. Lloyd-Jones wasn’t nice and neither was Jesus. The preacher must never be a schmoozer or a politician. To do so is simply to cease following Christ and, instead, for at least that moment, to follow Pilate, the politician.
Monday, May 08, 2006
The Central Role of Small Group in Mission
There is no BIG in Team
I became a Christian in June of 1986. After my conversion, I began attending a conservative evangelical church with my father. This church was great for the formation of my understanding of the bible as the source of our faith and practice, but it took awhile before I found a place to live out the life and the purpose for which God had called me. Though at the church I attended with my father, I learned good sound bible doctrine, it wasn’t until I met a small group of like-minded people and attended church with them that I felt at home. There is a model of teaching doctrine and ideas that works, namely the pulpit, but to learn how to live out our faith and expand the kingdom, this learning takes place in a smaller group of believers, a team if you will.
The church I first attended with my father was about 4,000 members. I remember trying to get involved with the high school group but I am very NOT gifted to work with kids. I attended the “collage and career group” at this church. That “small” group was really about meeting a mate, so I got a girl friend. That process wasn’t too different from my pre-Christian days. During this time, I went out a few times with the evangelism teams with this church but the cold turkey methods seemed very unnatural to me and ineffective. Then, when I was in seminary, I attended a small group on campus with a couple seminarians. Here for the first time I felt that this group was different. The worship was heartfelt and the group seemed to “assemble around the Lord” (Psalm 7:7a). This group visited the elderly and took mission trips to Mexico and to the parks in Southern California. People were very mission focused. The leader was from YWAM and the group was very mobilized. I began to participate in this missional community. I was actually changing. Life had real purpose and we were living a life that was focused on loving others and not a Christianized version of the American dream.
Later I attended Sunday church with this group. I felt like we were part of something very big and revolutionary, but the “us” or the “we” was the small group. We, the small group of friends were involved in something big and purposeful. Many small groups got together and worshipped but what made it so powerful was that each of this small groups was itself involved in mission at the small group level. The identity of the individual was as a team member at a level that allowed everyone to play in the team. You cannot all really play on a team of 4,000. Team sizes max out at about 50. Most teams are closer to 10 or in Jesus’ case about 12. Actual mission happens in teams. Events are led by teams and activities to make an mission activity happen takes a team of about 8-15. To mobilize a people, the people have to be on teams and these teams or small groups, functional or local, are the place where mission takes place and therefore the place where real purpose driven life motivates spiritual growth.
This team playing is key to spiritual growth and the expansion of the kingdom. Therefore, we conclude that true discipleship happen in the small group.
God Bless,
brad
tags: home church; House Church; Church; Christianity
I became a Christian in June of 1986. After my conversion, I began attending a conservative evangelical church with my father. This church was great for the formation of my understanding of the bible as the source of our faith and practice, but it took awhile before I found a place to live out the life and the purpose for which God had called me. Though at the church I attended with my father, I learned good sound bible doctrine, it wasn’t until I met a small group of like-minded people and attended church with them that I felt at home. There is a model of teaching doctrine and ideas that works, namely the pulpit, but to learn how to live out our faith and expand the kingdom, this learning takes place in a smaller group of believers, a team if you will.
The church I first attended with my father was about 4,000 members. I remember trying to get involved with the high school group but I am very NOT gifted to work with kids. I attended the “collage and career group” at this church. That “small” group was really about meeting a mate, so I got a girl friend. That process wasn’t too different from my pre-Christian days. During this time, I went out a few times with the evangelism teams with this church but the cold turkey methods seemed very unnatural to me and ineffective. Then, when I was in seminary, I attended a small group on campus with a couple seminarians. Here for the first time I felt that this group was different. The worship was heartfelt and the group seemed to “assemble around the Lord” (Psalm 7:7a). This group visited the elderly and took mission trips to Mexico and to the parks in Southern California. People were very mission focused. The leader was from YWAM and the group was very mobilized. I began to participate in this missional community. I was actually changing. Life had real purpose and we were living a life that was focused on loving others and not a Christianized version of the American dream.
Later I attended Sunday church with this group. I felt like we were part of something very big and revolutionary, but the “us” or the “we” was the small group. We, the small group of friends were involved in something big and purposeful. Many small groups got together and worshipped but what made it so powerful was that each of this small groups was itself involved in mission at the small group level. The identity of the individual was as a team member at a level that allowed everyone to play in the team. You cannot all really play on a team of 4,000. Team sizes max out at about 50. Most teams are closer to 10 or in Jesus’ case about 12. Actual mission happens in teams. Events are led by teams and activities to make an mission activity happen takes a team of about 8-15. To mobilize a people, the people have to be on teams and these teams or small groups, functional or local, are the place where mission takes place and therefore the place where real purpose driven life motivates spiritual growth.
This team playing is key to spiritual growth and the expansion of the kingdom. Therefore, we conclude that true discipleship happen in the small group.
God Bless,
brad
tags: home church; House Church; Church; Christianity
Monday, May 01, 2006
The Problem of Looking for "The Man"
Again, some of the inspiration for this post is in many ways my recent experiences and recent conversations with a friend of mine, Ryan.
Ryan and I and also this young man, Brad Fieldhouse, were all assessed by our denomination in the past 10 years as potential church planters and pastors. All of us were assessed very highly. This whole process is in many ways rather insidious. You see the church is looking for someone who just might be “the man”.
Faith in “the man”
When a church goes through a hiring process and interviews a candidate and listens to him preach, what are they really looking for? I have found that, though we do not say it, we are looking for “the man”. Maybe, this guy can be the next “guy”. The guy to attract a crowd and make us a “successful” “church”. He needs to be “charismatic” and attractive to outsiders. He is true to the word but not too obtuse.
What is so wrong with looking for “the man”?
First, the concept behind the idea of “the man” is that the way a church grows is that a man stands up and attracts people. The work of the ministry, what ever that is, is done by “the man”. We the church we consume the product that he gives us. We laugh at his jokes. We pay attention when the mode is set. We sing the up songs at the end, and we go home feeling pretty good about our church and the whole production. The whole event might as well be called the Sunday morning matinee but with a religious theme.
This is EXACTLY what Dylan meant when he said:
“You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns
When they all did their tricks for you.
You never understood that it ain’t no good
You shouldn’t let other people get your kicks for you”
It is totally not where it is at to let the artist or the preacher entertain you and to be a spectator. What is supposed to be going on here is not even the least bit about entertainment. Poets are not entertainers and neither are preachers.
You might be able to sell records that way and indeed you might be able to grow churches that way but as Dylan says… “it ain’t me babe”. The kingdom is a completely different process. Doing the stuff is not a spectator affair. The kingdom is something we do, and we do it in small groups and in one on one relationship where we teach people an altogether new way of life based on an entirely new and spiritual basis. The cross is not something you learn while eating popcorn.
Now consider what we would have to do if we didn’t utilize “the man” process at all. Even when someone does give a teaching we are not listening to the human element at all but only the pneuma (Spirit). The man himself may be totally un-polished and not entertaining at all. It is better if he isn’t. He should be weak and unimpressive so that we all know that we are not here to be entertained by a man but to here the exposition of the scripture and the voice of God through the gifts of the body of Christ.
It is time to seriously deconstruct the concept of “the man”. The seeker sensitive entertainment model has built large churches, mega churches, but has done immeasurable harm to the common Christian’s understanding of what the church is and who they are as Christians.
Let’s destroy the whole concept of “the man” and seek a model that promotes Christ and His kingdom with simplicity and humility and no dependence on the man with the golden tongue and the golden touch.
God Bless,
Brad
Ryan and I and also this young man, Brad Fieldhouse, were all assessed by our denomination in the past 10 years as potential church planters and pastors. All of us were assessed very highly. This whole process is in many ways rather insidious. You see the church is looking for someone who just might be “the man”.
Faith in “the man”
When a church goes through a hiring process and interviews a candidate and listens to him preach, what are they really looking for? I have found that, though we do not say it, we are looking for “the man”. Maybe, this guy can be the next “guy”. The guy to attract a crowd and make us a “successful” “church”. He needs to be “charismatic” and attractive to outsiders. He is true to the word but not too obtuse.
What is so wrong with looking for “the man”?
First, the concept behind the idea of “the man” is that the way a church grows is that a man stands up and attracts people. The work of the ministry, what ever that is, is done by “the man”. We the church we consume the product that he gives us. We laugh at his jokes. We pay attention when the mode is set. We sing the up songs at the end, and we go home feeling pretty good about our church and the whole production. The whole event might as well be called the Sunday morning matinee but with a religious theme.
This is EXACTLY what Dylan meant when he said:
“You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns
When they all did their tricks for you.
You never understood that it ain’t no good
You shouldn’t let other people get your kicks for you”
It is totally not where it is at to let the artist or the preacher entertain you and to be a spectator. What is supposed to be going on here is not even the least bit about entertainment. Poets are not entertainers and neither are preachers.
You might be able to sell records that way and indeed you might be able to grow churches that way but as Dylan says… “it ain’t me babe”. The kingdom is a completely different process. Doing the stuff is not a spectator affair. The kingdom is something we do, and we do it in small groups and in one on one relationship where we teach people an altogether new way of life based on an entirely new and spiritual basis. The cross is not something you learn while eating popcorn.
Now consider what we would have to do if we didn’t utilize “the man” process at all. Even when someone does give a teaching we are not listening to the human element at all but only the pneuma (Spirit). The man himself may be totally un-polished and not entertaining at all. It is better if he isn’t. He should be weak and unimpressive so that we all know that we are not here to be entertained by a man but to here the exposition of the scripture and the voice of God through the gifts of the body of Christ.
It is time to seriously deconstruct the concept of “the man”. The seeker sensitive entertainment model has built large churches, mega churches, but has done immeasurable harm to the common Christian’s understanding of what the church is and who they are as Christians.
Let’s destroy the whole concept of “the man” and seek a model that promotes Christ and His kingdom with simplicity and humility and no dependence on the man with the golden tongue and the golden touch.
God Bless,
Brad
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Kingdom Causes
A friend of ours Ryan VerWies and I have been talking lately. These conversations were the inspiration for "The Simple Church" post. He participates and co-leads a ministry called Kingdom Causes. He is the Bellflower lead.
Kingdom Causes is a network of house churches and traditional churches who work together on inner city development and other projects to provide assistance to the economically struggling in the LA area.
Check it out.
God Bless,
brad
Kingdom Causes is a network of house churches and traditional churches who work together on inner city development and other projects to provide assistance to the economically struggling in the LA area.
Check it out.
God Bless,
brad
Thursday, April 27, 2006
The Simple Church
In our faith community, one of our core values is simplicity. Our value is that we live simply in order that we can wisely and extravagantly exercise generosity toward the economically poor in our community, our neighborhood and our world. The question is often posed in our groups, “How do you practice simplicity and fight against materialism in your family?” but I think churches need to ask this question as well.
What would a church that practiced simplicity look like?
What would a simple church look like?
Let’s say your church just starting and defining itself and is meeting as a small group. Is the vision of the church to live simply and practice generosity or is the vision materialistic? Is the goal to “buy a building” and then to make additions? That is how the world thinks as families and when we practice simplicity in order to be generous, we reject the “re-model” mentality? When we seek simplicity as a family, we whittle our budgets down to as little as possible. In the church, if we are able to start from scratch, we can plan a church with virtually no overhead.
What if the church had no building and no staff and yet had 100 tithing families?
Our time like our money was only spent on actually doing evangelism and discipleship. How would we then practice simplicity and generosity? The church will in this scenario have no overhead or at least very little. Easily 75% of the budget would go to missions work and community development.
Funds can be gathered for missions projects and not building projects. That 4 million dollar building project now becomes a four million dollar development project in the inner city or in a third world rural village. We are now doing the stuff and have escaped the trappings of the American Dream on the corporate level.
Here is the practice of simplicity as a corporate community. Here is the simple church of the 21st century.
Tags:emergent church; Church;emerging Church;Christianity; Religion
What would a church that practiced simplicity look like?
What would a simple church look like?
Let’s say your church just starting and defining itself and is meeting as a small group. Is the vision of the church to live simply and practice generosity or is the vision materialistic? Is the goal to “buy a building” and then to make additions? That is how the world thinks as families and when we practice simplicity in order to be generous, we reject the “re-model” mentality? When we seek simplicity as a family, we whittle our budgets down to as little as possible. In the church, if we are able to start from scratch, we can plan a church with virtually no overhead.
What if the church had no building and no staff and yet had 100 tithing families?
Our time like our money was only spent on actually doing evangelism and discipleship. How would we then practice simplicity and generosity? The church will in this scenario have no overhead or at least very little. Easily 75% of the budget would go to missions work and community development.
Funds can be gathered for missions projects and not building projects. That 4 million dollar building project now becomes a four million dollar development project in the inner city or in a third world rural village. We are now doing the stuff and have escaped the trappings of the American Dream on the corporate level.
Here is the practice of simplicity as a corporate community. Here is the simple church of the 21st century.
Tags:emergent church; Church;emerging Church;Christianity; Religion
Friday, April 07, 2006
Links: Gnostic "Gospel of Judas" Resurfaces
Martin's Musings: Gnostic "Gospel of Judas" Resurfaces
More facts on the history of the Gospel of Judas...
More facts on the history of the Gospel of Judas...
Ben Witherington On The Gospel of Judas
Ben Witherington on the Gospel of Judas.
Ben Witherington does a good job looking at the so-called new finding regarding Gnosticism in the 2nd and 3rd Century AD. Dr. W notes that the real problem with this event is not the finding but with it's reporting. The find is a valuable find to shed light on the Gnostic heresy which developed in the 2nd century AD (denounced as heresy in 180AD). This new find reveals more regarding the anti-Hebrew nature of the Gnostic beliefs and confirms what theologians already know which is that Gnosticism was a very real sect 150 years after the founding of the church.
But for reporters and academics alike to act like this sheds light on first century Christianity or the first 200 years of church beliefs is completely disingenuous.
For more read...Dr. Ws post...
Ben Witherington does a good job looking at the so-called new finding regarding Gnosticism in the 2nd and 3rd Century AD. Dr. W notes that the real problem with this event is not the finding but with it's reporting. The find is a valuable find to shed light on the Gnostic heresy which developed in the 2nd century AD (denounced as heresy in 180AD). This new find reveals more regarding the anti-Hebrew nature of the Gnostic beliefs and confirms what theologians already know which is that Gnosticism was a very real sect 150 years after the founding of the church.
But for reporters and academics alike to act like this sheds light on first century Christianity or the first 200 years of church beliefs is completely disingenuous.
For more read...Dr. Ws post...
Confessions of Missional Mediocrity
(e)mergent Voyageurs :: Confessions of Missional Mediocrity...Great post on living out our ideals and the difficulty to gain the momentum to really live as a missional community...Great confessional piece.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
The Danger of Fault Finding
Is fault finding a big problem to avoid? Is fault finding a disease to be avoided with diligence especially if one has a tendency to be critical?
The answer is Yes!! And why?
I will write more on this later but the answer is...Fault finding is like looking for sand at the beach.
1. People have many faults. We are less than perfect all the time. Literally every sentence we say could be improved upon and many things we do and say shouldn't be said or done at all. So once one begins to look for faults, finding faults becomes like finding sand at the beach. An infinite number of faults present themselves to the mind. If we roll these over and attempt to make a case regarding someone's faults, we find a mountain of evidence and delude ourselves into thinking we must be correct. What we have failed to understand is that:
2. Fault finding is a disease. Any discipleship program must teach people the what and why's of the no fault finding principle.
Enough for now,
God Bless,
brad
The answer is Yes!! And why?
I will write more on this later but the answer is...Fault finding is like looking for sand at the beach.
1. People have many faults. We are less than perfect all the time. Literally every sentence we say could be improved upon and many things we do and say shouldn't be said or done at all. So once one begins to look for faults, finding faults becomes like finding sand at the beach. An infinite number of faults present themselves to the mind. If we roll these over and attempt to make a case regarding someone's faults, we find a mountain of evidence and delude ourselves into thinking we must be correct. What we have failed to understand is that:
2. Fault finding is a disease. Any discipleship program must teach people the what and why's of the no fault finding principle.
Enough for now,
God Bless,
brad
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Matisyahu - "Youth" - A Young Spiritual Revolutionary's View of The Education System
Matisyahu's new CD - "Youth" is an ecstatic blast of spiritual revolution. While U2 offers the airwaves a positive vibe and social consciousness, Matisyahu takes the same vibe to its ecstatic extreme.In Romans 11:11, 14, Paul the Apostle proclaims his desire that the salvation of the Gentiles and our spiritual walk in the presence of God would provoke the Jews to jealousy. In a strange turn of events, Matisyahu makes me long for a Shabbat service at Chabad in Washington Square.
To put Matisyahu in context, it is helpful to read his bio from his web page. Matisyahu marries street beat box poetry to his Lubavitch-Hasidic worldview and challenges all of us to take a second look at the role of the poet in memorializing the experiences of our faith communities.
The Central Theme of the Education of the Youth
In the '90's, Kurt Cobain gave voice to a generation of bored and force fed youth, but failed to provide any solutions. In a similar fashion, Matisyahu speaks from the experience of a young vibrant mind thoroughly bored and demoralized by the educational system. As a parent, I reflect upon the poetic raps of "Youth" and have to ponder, "Do I want my children to grows up to be compliant or critical thinkers?".
Compliant or Critical Thinkers
In the title track, Matisyahu describes the effect of an educational system that fails to answer the questions that face adolescents.
storm the halls of vanity
focus your energy
into a laser beam streaming shattered light unites
to pierce between the seams and it seems
tear the world open, peer in the children see
rapid fire for your mind.
half the truth is just a lie,
they rub me the wrong way,
they say their way or fall behind.
seven subjects disconnect,
left out the concept as to why there's a spiritual emptiness,
so the youth them get vexed,
skip class and get wrecked fill with beer and cigarettes
to fill the hole in their chest
Secular education is incapable and thoroughly unequipped to answer the answers that plague the child as he awakens into consciousness in adolescence. Just at this time, the flame is beginning to spark and the seven subjects do not connect with the heart of the child. All this learning, but never the wisdom to answer "why there is a spiritual emptiness".
The first verse speaks also of this budding flame of the mind of the youth...
some of them come
some of them running
some of them looking for fun
some of them looking for a way out of confusion
some of them don't know what to be
some of them don't know where to go
some of them trust their instincts that something's missing from the show
some don't fit society, insides are crying low
some of them teachers squash the flame before it had a chance to grow
some of them embers do glow them charcoal, hushed and low
some of them come with the hunger suppressed, not fed them feel a death blow..
I remember when I was young. I was 100% alienated from society, and the only answer to the inner knowing that "something is missing from the show" came in my identification with the suffering of Christ and the beauty of the cross. Self-sacrificial love as the moral and spiritual principle (the logos) that defines the image of God that cries out to be heard and lived.
Such wisdom, the wisdom of the cross, is not taught in the schools, and how can they? They have no spiritual foundation.
So, how am I teaching my children? Are my children challenged to question and to seek the wisdom of the cross and the death to the ego as the path to true knowledge? Do we teach our children a compliance that doesn't question the moral insanity of the world system? Are they taught to deeply question the individualism and the materialism that drives the world and ends only in suffering?
Our Educational Motto - This is our conclusion.
We will raise our children to be critical thinkers first and foremost and to seek to answer the fundamental questions that plague humanity and that undermine the manifestation of the image of God in the people of God.
The kingdom is a spiritual revolution...
God Bless,
brad
Tags:Matisyahu; youth; education; homeschooling
Cerulean Sanctum: No "I" in "Church"
Cerulean Sanctum: No "I" in "Church":
Dan's post today is about the inherent individualism in the American worldview and how we need to re-think how this individualism has effected our ability to understand God's work with and dealings with communities. Also, are we really capable of understanding the moral implications of the community focus of the Gospel?
Here is my favorite part of Dan's post...Do you have life insurance? Health insurance? Does it cost a lot of money? Have you ever asked yourself why you have it?The reason you have it is because you've been taught you can't count on anyone but yourself to provide should disaster come. Certainly you can't count on the church to provide for you. But that is not how the Bible reads:
And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.--Acts 4:33-35 ESV
read more...
Dan's post today is about the inherent individualism in the American worldview and how we need to re-think how this individualism has effected our ability to understand God's work with and dealings with communities. Also, are we really capable of understanding the moral implications of the community focus of the Gospel?
Here is my favorite part of Dan's post...Do you have life insurance? Health insurance? Does it cost a lot of money? Have you ever asked yourself why you have it?The reason you have it is because you've been taught you can't count on anyone but yourself to provide should disaster come. Certainly you can't count on the church to provide for you. But that is not how the Bible reads:
And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.--Acts 4:33-35 ESV
read more...
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