Believe It or Not: A Telling Hermeneutic

"How can this strange story of God made flesh, of a crucified Savior, of resurrection and new creation become credible for those whose entire mental training has conditioned them to believe that the real world is the world which can be satisfactorily explained and managed without the hypothesis of God? I know of only one clue to the answering of that question, only one real hermeneutic of the gospel: a congregation which believes it." – Lesslie Newbigin

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We are seeking to accomplish what God himself wills to happen

It's been a very long while since posting here. Lot's of reasons -mostly good methinks. However, the following link merits chasing. Enjoy :-)

So all our missional efforts to make God known must be set within the prior framework of God’s own will to be known. We are seeking to accomplish what God himself wills to happen. This is both humbling and reassuring. It is humbling inasmuch as it reminds us that all our efforts would be in vain but for God’s determination to be known. We are neither the initiators of the mission of making God known to the nations nor does it lie in our power to decide how to the task will be fully accomplished or when it may be deemed to be complete. But it is also reassuring. For we know that behind all our fumbling efforts and inadequate communication the supreme will of the living God, reaching out in loving self-revelation, incredibly willing to open blind eyes and reveal his glory through the treasures of the gospel delivered in the clay pots of his witnesses.

- Christopher Wright, The Mission of God, p. 129, 130

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Holy Love :: Offensive Cross :: Needed Win

With my thoughts turning towards the Lenten and Easter seasons and the continued shaping of our community, I'm often - and may it always be so - reminded that the benefits of the Gospel and Kingdom come only on the basis of the blood, death and resurrection of our King. Whilst being boldly loving folk and doing "good" things should lead us towards the peaceful fruits of justice, mercy, humility and the "blessing" of others - especially the "least of these", I cannot step over the stumbling block and offense of the cross which remains foolishness to some and the very power of God to others.

Seeking to anticipate the "sparks in the wind" sort of varied influences - especially the markedly heretical - that may contain the embers needed to influence, confuse or harm the folks of our community, I came across the following poem. It is an excerpt from Timothy Stoner’s The God Who Smokes: Scandalous Meditation on Faith (p. 30).

Certainly worth the read methinks.

Holy Love Wins

The love that wins is a holy love.

The love that won on the cross and wins the world is a love that is driven, determined, and defined by holiness.

It is a love that flows out of the heart of a God who is transcendent, majestic, infinite in righteousness, who loves justice as much as he does mercy; who hates wickedness as much as he loves goodness; who blazes with a fiery, passionate love for himself above all things.

He is Creator, Sustainer, Beginning and End.

He is robed in a splendor and eternal purity that is blinding.

He rules, he reigns, he rages and roars, then bends down to whisper love songs to his creatures.

His love is vast and irresistible.

It is also terrifying, and it will spare no expense to give everything away in order to free us from the bondage of sin, purifying for himself a people who are devoted to his glory, a people who have “no ambition except to do good”.

So he crushes his precious Son in order to rescue and restore mankind along with his entire creation.

He unleashes perfect judgment on the perfectly obedient sacrifice and then pulls him up out of the grave in a smashing and utter victory.

He is a God who triumphs . . .

He is a burning cyclone of passionate love.

Holy love wins.

Grace & Peace,

-T

Read entire originating post: Holy Love Wins

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A Needed Glimpse @ Nehemiah

For the Love of God , a daily devotional designed to walk a person through the Bible in a year, remains a helpful compliment to the M'Cheynne Reading plan. Sunday's commentary was particularly striking. Partly because of the pastoral context and needs in our community. Partly because of the tendency to drift that remains a resident lure in my own heart.

Reflect: A Swim Upstream Awaits

ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING EVIDENCES of sinful human nature lies in the universal propensity for downward drift. In other words, it takes thought, resolve, energy, and effort to bring about reform. In the grace of God, sometimes human beings display such virtues. But where such virtues are absent, the drift is invariably toward compromise, comfort, indiscipline, sliding disobedience, and decay that advances, sometimes at a crawl and sometimes at a gallop, across generations.

People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.

Click here for the complete post. (D.A. Carson:For the Love of God: The Gospel Coalition)

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The Gospel - know it well, teach it to others, & beat it into their heads continually

“The law is divine and holy. Let the law have his glory, but yet no law, be it never so divine and holy, ought to teach me that I am justified, and shall live through it. I grant it may teach me that I ought to love God and my neighbour; also to live in chastity, soberness, patience, etc., but it ought not to show me, how I should be delivered from sin, the devil, death, and hell.

Here I must take counsel of the gospel. I must hearken to the gospel, which teacheth me, not what I ought to do, (for that is the proper office of the law,) but what Jesus Christ the Son of God hath done for me : to wit, that He suffered and died to deliver me from sin and death. The gospel willeth me to receive this, and to believe it. And this is the truth of the gospel. It is also the principal article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness consisteth.

Most necessary it is, therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their heads continually.” –Martin Luther, St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians (Philadelphia: Smith, English & Co., 1860), 206.

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Ed Stetzer - A LifeWay Research blog on theology, missiology, missional church, church planting, church revlitalization, and innovation.

Ed Stetzer - A LifeWay Research blog on theology, missiology, missional church, church planting, church revlitalization, and innovation.

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Piper and Preaching: Worth a View & Listen

The following is straight from Desiring God website.

Some of you may have little or no experience with what I mean by preaching. I think it will help you listen to my messages if I say a word about it.

What I mean by preaching is expository exultation.



Preaching Is Expository

Expository means that preaching aims to exposit, or explain and apply, the meaning of the Bible. The reason for this is that the Bible is God’s word, inspired, infallible, profitable—all 66 books of it.

The preacher’s job is to minimize his own opinions and deliver the truth of God. Every sermon should explain the Bible and then apply it to people's lives.

The preacher should do that in a way that enables you to see that the points he is making actually come from the Bible. If you can’t see that they come from the Bible, your faith will end up resting on a man and not on God's word.

The aim of this exposition is to help you eat and digest biblical truth that will

* make your spiritual bones more like steel,
* double the capacity of your spiritual lungs,
* make the eyes of your heart dazzled with the brightness of the glory of God,
* and awaken the capacity of your soul for kinds of spiritual enjoyment you didn’t even know existed.

Preaching Is Exultation

Preaching is also exultation. This means that the preacher does not just explain what’s in the Bible, and the people do not simply try understand what he explains. Rather, the preacher and the people exult over what is in the Bible as it is being explained and applied.

Preaching does not come after worship in the order of the service. Preaching is worship. The preacher worships—exults—over the word, trying his best to draw you into a worshipful response by the power of the Holy Spirit.

My job is not simply to see truth and show it to you. (The devil could do that for his own devious reasons.) My job is to see the glory of the truth and to savor it and exult over it as I explain it to you and apply it for you. That’s one of the differences between a sermon and a lecture.
Preaching Isn't Church, but It Serves the Church

Preaching is not the totality of the church. And if all you have is preaching, you don’t have the church. A church is a body of people who minister to each other.

One of the purposes of preaching is to equip us for that and inspire us to love each other better.

But God has created the church so that she flourishes through preaching. That’s why Paul gave young pastor Timothy one of the most serious, exalted charges in all the Bible in 2 Timothy 4:1-2:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word.

What to Expect from My Preaching and Why

If you're used to a twenty-minute, immediately practical, relaxed talk, you won't find that from what I've just described.

* I preach twice that long;
* I do not aim to be immediately practical but eternally helpful;
* and I am not relaxed.

I standing vigilantly on the precipice of eternity speaking to people who this week could go over the edge whether they are ready to or not. I will be called to account for what I said there.

That's what I mean by preaching.

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Praying the Lord's Prayer

The Model Prayer can be taken as intended or become a rote recited ritual that lacks vitality; yet, when taken to heart, and grappled with under the ministry God the Holy Spirit, great awe, humility, growth and encouragement issue from the instructive example of Christ as He instructs his disciples.

What follows is and excerpt from "Praying the Lord's Prayer" by J.I. Packer. It's small in size but very much worth the read. and, if read with contemplation and the time reflecting in the Scriptures, not a quick read at all. In a recent interview, it became clear that Dr Packer defines , at least in part, his role as a catechist to the Church. And for this, we can be grateful.


Excerpt from " Praying the Lord's Prayer"

"As analysis of light requires reference to the seven colors of the spectrum that make it up, so analysis of the Lord’s Prayer requires reference to a spectrum of seven distinct activities: approaching God in adoration and trust; acknowledging his work and his worth, in praise and worship; admitting sin, and seeking pardon; asking that needs be met, for ourselves and others; arguing with God for blessing, as wrestling Jacob did in Genesis 32 (God loves to be argued with); accepting from God one’s own situation as he has shaped it; and adhering to God in faithfulness through thick and thin. These seven activities together constitute biblical prayer, and the Lord’s Prayer embodies them all."

Grace and Peace,
-T

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A Puritan Prayer

Wrapping up an evening on the road, I'm spending a bit of time reflecting backwards along the tapestry of those in Christ who, together with all the saints, comprise the continuum of God's covenant people. Pausing to look a bit further into a Puritan point in the thread, I think the following prayer merits sharing.

Giver of all, another day is ended and I take my place beneath my great redeemer's cross, where healing streams continually descend, where balm is poured into every wound, where I wash anew in the all-cleansing blood, assured that Thou seest in me no spots of sin.Yet a little while and I shall go to Thy home and be no more seen; help me to gird up the loins of my mind, to quicken my step, to speed as if each moment were my last, that my life be joy, my death glory.

I thank Thee for the temporal blessings of this world—the refreshing air, the light of the sun, the food that renews strength, the raiment that clothes, the dwelling that shelters, the sleep that gives rest, the starry canopy of night, the summer breeze, the flowers' sweetness, the music of flowing streams, the happy endearments of family, kindred, friends. Things animate, things inanimate, minister to my comfort. My cup runs over. Suffer me not to be insensible to these daily mercies. Thy hand bestows blessings: Thy power averts evil. I bring my tribute of thanks for spiritual graces, the full warmth of faith, the cheering presence of Thy Spirit, the strength of Thy restraining will, Thy spiking of hell's artillery. Blessed be my sovereign Lord!

-A Puritan Prayer

Grace and Peace- T

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Divine Afterthought or New Community?

Pure Church: What God Has Joined Together, Let Not Man Separate

Taking time over coffee today to read a bit, I really must pass on the above post with pure and simple gratitude to Thabiti Anyabwile, at Pure Church, and the heart expressed in the above post. Follow the link. It merits note.

Grace and Peace
-T

Here's an excerpt:

"First, I am assuming that we are all committed to the church. We are not only Christian people; we are also church people. We are not only committed to Christ, we are also committed to the body of Christ. At least I hope so. I trust that none of my readers is that grotesque anomaly, an unchurched Christian. The New Testament knows nothing of such a person. For the church lies at the very centre of the eternal purpose of God. It is not a divine afterthought. It is not an accident of history. On the contrary, the church is God's new community. For his purpose, conceived in a past eternity, being worked out in history, and to be perfected in a future eternity, is not just to save isolated individuals and so perpetuate our loneliness, but rather to build his church, that is, to call out of the world a people for his own glory. ... So then, the reason we are committed to the church is that God is so committed." - Rev. Dr. John Stott

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Truth or Tunes? A Needed Note

Bob Kauflin's observations on Truth and Music merit note. Whilst the video has been "in the cloud" quite some time, I just came across it this morning and really think the comments on truth and tunes needs a hearing.

Grace and Peace,

-T

P.S. For more worship related content and resources, Bob Kauflin's blog, Worship Matters, can be found here.

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When Dying Men Preach

Today, I came across an interview- recorded some years back- with Dr John RW Stott. It merits a look see.

Found it at Between Two Worlds by way of link from Pure Church. I especially note two excerpts.

1 - The priority of preaching the Scriptures.

When asked, “What legacy would you like to leave with the leaders, with whom you have been involved?” Dr. Stott replied,

“ I would urge upon them the priority of preaching. It is the Word of God which matures the people of God. As Jesus said, quoting Deuteronomy, human beings do not live by bread alone, but by every word which comes from the mouth of God. Moreover, what is true of individuals is equally true of churches. Churches live, grow, and flourish by the Word of God; they languish and perish without it. Of course the Word of God can reach people both in private Bible study (if they are literate and have a Bible) and in Bible study groups. But the major way in which the Word of God comes to the people of God worldwide is through preaching. I am an unrepentant believer in the power of the pulpit. I long to see a recovery of faithful biblical preaching from the pulpits of the world; the result would be a dramatic growth in mature discipleship.”

2 - The radical call flowing from the cross of Christ beyond the Atonement.

Again, Dr. Stott says,

“I have been concerned to write a book which is not just about the Atonement but about all aspects of the death of Christ as unfolded in the New Testament. For instance, Christ calls us to take up our cross and follow him. ‘When Christ calls a man,’ wrote Dietrich Bonhoeffer, ‘he bids him come and die.’ We are always in danger of trivializing the meaning of conversion as if it involved only the adoption of a veneer of piety in an otherwise secular life. Then scratch the surface and there is the same old pagan underneath. But no, conversion is much more radical than this."

The article originally appeared in the Summer 2001 issue of the C. S. Lewis Institute Report. You will find it here. And the original post at Between Two Worlds can be seen here.

Grace and Peace,

-T

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Tonight's the Night: Music and Friendship in the Village

Music and getting together with a small circle of friends are on the horizon this weekend. I'm kind of excited about it and here's why.

A few of us, predominately folk who comprise our village family, are gathering for a Music Night with Mr. Mason Johnson, A MOST EXCELLENT MUSICIAN. It is a chance to hang out and serve one another this Saturday evening (March 29^th, 2008) at 7:15 PM.

However, we are also inviting a few friends and neighbors to join in. It will likely prove to be a night of melody, rhythm, and “chillable” sounds rendered by a most amazing and talented 84 year old seasoned musician who says, “I’m honored to have the chance to sing for you folks”.

As an indicator of his diligence and commitment to a great evening, Mr. Johnson, as of Tuesday morning this week, had completed a dry run to the village to make certain he knew how to find us and had begun weaving together a program of tunes aimed at delighting our folks with a selection of sounds drawn from a deep well of experience- including tunes ranging from Post War (WW II) to present day, as well as, Classic Jazz.

Also, we are providing dessert and coffee to those who take part. And whilst, our family will make up most of the gathering, the evening will also give us the chance to serve a small circle of neighbors and friends whom we hope to encourage as we listen and share in a “service of sweets and most excellent java” provided with a smile.

We are "doing the place up" with jazz club tables, comfy seating, and quirky lighting to create an ambiance for relaxing as we bless, serve, and connect as friends. Borrowing a line from Bob Gaudio and The Four Seasons, we can say, “Oh, what a night”. This Saturday night: a point of blessing, friendship, and generosity. And, seeking to exercise a theology of generosity, the evening is offered free of charge with no strings attached to those who take part.

The evening begins at 7:15 PM. The music starts at 7:30 PM and wraps up around 9:30 PM. The venue is 1028 Second Street (the building where CCC meets as a "church gathered") in the village of Stone Mountain, GA 30083. Those lending a hand are gathering at the 6:00 PM to decorate at deliver the ambiance, prepare the goodies, and brew the coffee. Otherwise, the evening begins at 7:15 PM with a welcome and a simple invitation to hang out as friends.

It should be a fun night – a really good night. I'll let you know how it goes.

Grace and Peace,

T

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A Sojourner's Birthday

Today is a day of contemplation. Why? A good friend is turning 50.

We've been through a lot as brothers in our common village and church community and I really can't let the event pass without speaking gratitude into his life.

We've watched our kids grow up together. He and his wife were at the birth of each of our three boys and we have taken part in the lives of their kids, too. And against the consumeristic tide of our day, we have persevered to serve in a community called the church (the same local body) for more than 22 years.

He was there when I met my wife. He was there when we married. He was there when we struggled financially and with broken health. He was there in the ongoing process of restoration in Christ. Truly, he is a friend. You know, it may not take a village but it certainly is good to be a part of one- and even better to have a friend.

So, what follows is an excerpt from birthday wishes to him.

Dearest Brother, with the Psalmist, we can say, "I am a sojourner on the earth." And, this is increasingly recognizable as we progress, live, labor, and love. In fact, we’re getting older. We know this and it is a good thing.

God has crafted us for communion with Himself and to take our place in the progression of His story-His work of redeeming, restoring, and blessing His creation. We are, in fact, partakers at his invitation and at His expense, in the eternal fellowship of the Trinity. Wow!

As a fellow laborer, partaker of life in Christ, and friend, I have to tell you that you are blessing and great encouragement to me. Please know that I genuinely delight in knowing you – my brother.

From another sojourner with a place in God’s redemptive history, we read:

So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands! (Moses; Psalm 90: 12; 14-17; ESV)

Blessings and peace and ....

Happy Birthday.

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The Pressures of Missional Living

Wrestling to integrate faith and praxis is a good thing. Since meeting Christ and setting off in His embrace to follow Him, I've not been - nor do I desire to be- at ease with the status quo and pre-packaged pat answers. What's more, this tension between expediency and truth seeking remains after nearly 30 years of new life. In fact, it persists across the varying roles of my life as husband, father, employee, boss, elder, co-labourer, etc.

Staunchly resistant to consumerist Christian practice, I yearn, in His grace, to run towards the unsettling tensions of the seemingly necessary internal pressure that results as the pieces of my life puzzle continue to emerge in their formation and are fitted together through the ongoing “death and resurrection” process of continuing transformation. ( Soren Kierkegaard said, "Life can only be lived forward and understood backwards". Maybe there's some truth in his observation?) Yet, one surprisingly - albeit totally to be expected based on the Scriptural narrative of creation and redemption- positive point is my work.

I enjoy my industry and delight in adding benefit to the lives and work of customers. Granted there are times I’d like absolute liberty to stop,wrestle in solitude, and more actively (full time) pastor; however, I remain confident in the value of staying in the the struggle. Tension, whilst integrating and persisting to resist compartmentalized living as a believer, bears increasing fruit- especially over time. Plus, the requirements of my work spark necessary travel and provides the basis to nurture cross cultural and global friendships.

Recently, a friend and fellow shepherd, whom I see with some frequency in my travel to work, took time to share a reply he made to his sending organization. As I (I believe) am called to remain non-vocational as a pastor, my friend – and I believe he is called to do so- is working out his "calling" in the context of pioneering a church plant in the Midlands of Britain. Reading his reluctantly shared note builds empathy in the common struggle and heartens me, his friend and Christ co-labourer, to be a bit of a Barnabas and encourage his family and him in their missional endeavour, as well as, respond in praise to Christ.

My friend reminds me that he appreciates the encouragement he receives as we keep up with one another from across "the pond" and I suspect he doesn’t recognize – even though I have said it clearly- that the encouragement flows both ways. Anyway, here’s his note. (Location and denominational specific references deleted for the sake of anonymity.) I think you'll find it quite worth the read:

"What pressures have you, as pioneer missional pastor, experienced?"

I answer this for the sake of those who are romantically attracted to this role and those with responsibility for selecting and managing us.

I have felt pressure and, over the past winter, felt extremely bleak at the sense of slow growth and my own inadequacy. I am not often operating in my ‘comfort zone’ or my perception of my strengths. It has been crucial to know that I am called to this, and to believe that existing expressions of church (and even ‘freshly-tweaked expressions’) are wholly inadequate as a response to Christ’s calling to engage with him in His Mission.

Initially the pressure comes from all the space. There are no guidelines, no set role, and no fallback function. There are only a few who have ‘gone before’ so there is little possibility of specific guidance. My own sustaining spiritual discipline is key along with intercessors and encouragers. I give thanks for those people who are these to me.

The pressure to fill the space is intense and comes from my own sinful patterns of earning acceptance by achievement (I observe similar patterns in the institution which employs me). I could fill my diary with church meetings – filling in for clergy, meetings which exhaust rather than energise, speaking to people who have little intention of either being part of the project or responding to the call to do likewise (I still can’t discern exactly what people are really asking when they ask ‘How’s it going?’).

As people have come they bring their own pressure, as anyone in leadership has experienced. The imagined enthusiastic able and uncomplicated team does not quickly appear! Instead we have gathered a community filled with pastoral issues (real people with real problems). The temptation is to revert to chaplain/pastor problem-solver and so lose the missionary focus.

Growing community and growing networking with the demands of communication and development increase the pressure of administration. As I have become known and met strategic people in networks of media, local government, education, business and in the voluntary sector as well as potential partners in Christian organisations I have become pressurised by the need for administration to help develop these links as well as ensure the accountability, equipping and releasing of our fellowship’s members and communication through website etc. Because I have no base except the family home, the family shares this pressure. My children have no space except their own bedrooms and, as they are entering teenage years this is becoming difficult. Finding time to read and write this (and other) reports is a pressure and yet I know that time for reflection is vital. I just about manage a day each month at a local retreat house.

There is a pressure in reconfiguring and reconceiving the Gospel. For many years I’ve been aware that it is too simplistic to say that we need to hold fast to the Gospel and simply to repackage it culturally. We have to go through the insecurity of asking ‘What gospel am I holding too?’ With a lack of rigorous theological reflection around this is a challenge. I find myself wanting to challenge many ‘gospel’ assumptions proclaimed in word or action by Christians around me as well as having to ask hard questions about my own inheritance. This is the challenge of transformation, which involves both death and resurrection in Christ. There is a concern about syncretism if we do not defend the uniqueness of Christ and the foundational doctrines of the faith. We will be ineffective if we can’t communicate with emerging cultures and irrelevant if we are merely assimilated into the prevailing cultures.

There are also the pressures that come from the lack of an ‘official’ building. I can’t ‘go’ somewhere to worship and I can’t refer anyone to go there either. I’m sometimes isolated in a role that feels so different to any other and among people that are culturally very different to me.

Please don’t respond by preaching to me, or telling me I’m doing well really! I know that I’m called here. And that I’m God’s person for here and now. I know that He will help me in my weakness and lead me on. His grace is so wonderful – and there are signs of it. So pray for me and praise our Lord Jesus Christ!

A Fellow Elder in Christ
Church Planter/Mission Pioneer

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Joy in the Trenches (A Razz to the Self-Righteous)

OK. Time to check in before May hits the books. Two thoughts strike me.

First, the earlier pastoral challenges (as one elder amongst others who altogether are charged to lead, protect, and nurture) remain but there is encouragement in seeing the faithfulness of our folks. This is particularly true in the case of a young woman in our fellowship who, whilst in the midst of relational challenges with a key person in her life who is living markedly out of step with God’s Word and persisting in a destructive direction, is staying the course of obedience to Christ – amidst tough circumstances.

Seeing Christ increasingly formed in her is overwhelmingly a source of deep joy. Granted, I hurt (and we as a community hurt) for her (and the erring one, too); nonetheless, what would otherwise be a wholly terrible happening is being redeemed by her obedience to Jesus and the instruction of the Scriptures.

Christ is getting glory and the on-looking village sees a glimpse of Christ engendered courage and grace that somehow allows our sister to find the strength to love a stiff-necked loved one as Christ loves her rather than acting to destroy a things or run away. Humbled and exhorted I am. May her tribe increase?

Secondly, two village "brothers in Christ" made the marquis (actually the tavern events email reminder that goes out weekly into the community) at the local pub. How about that! I am absolutely tickled to bits. The note read, “A and B, of XYZ church, share their musical talents and acoustic styling this Thursday at the Tavern”. Wow. A church making the pub mailer- how sweet is that?

Seeking to be friends – and make friends- to our village neighbors, a number of our folks faithfully gather at the village restaurant and tavern and hang out most Thursdays. Moreover, we really love our neighbors and miss their company when a weekly meeting is thwarted for one reason or another. Likewise, we are grateful to the owners for providing a “third place” – really the only one in the village since our beloved coffee house closed- for our community and it is brimming with folks whom Christ loves. Therefore, we seek to know and love them, too.

Surprisingly, some “Christians" in the village –maybe moralists, legalists, or the self-righteous are better descriptors- view our presence there as a “bad witness”. Well, to tweak a comment from the gospels (tweaking it to shift the subject from the poor to the pompous), the “self-righteous” we will always have with us. So, let's get on with the mission and love as Christ loved. Certainly, we must practice loving respect for all; yet, in this matter the moralists can just get over it. Where our neighbors are – there we will be. So, let the criticisms continue. For me, I pick the publican over the Pharisee.

Anyway, I hope to write more often but working, loving my family, serving my neighbors, and doing the work of a co-laboring shepherd and participant in the Body of Christ do really compete for attention and time to write. And you know what- I’m glad it is so.

How I love the trenches. For, in them, I find the nurture of my Savior and joy in following His way for His glory, the good of His people, the blessing of others.

All the Best to you and yours,

Thom

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Dr. King, a Jail, and a Timely Admonition

I'm not sure it's an exception to the norm but, as a progenitor from a small southern town, I spent time reading the sermons of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr whilst in the early days of my spiritual wrestling to live out my faith in a culture that was swimming (and I mean vigorously so) upstream against the current flowing from the headwaters of Christ's example and commands in the scriptures.

My roots, without question, sprout from the scriptures, His Spirit, regeneration, the influence of my father, and the nurture of the body of Christ; nonetheless, the example and words of an exemplary man who was murdered when I was seven can inform my practice in the context of life into which I was born and the broader context in which I now live.

So, when I came across the following excerpt from Dr. King's writings from a Birmingham jail, I was struck again by the relevance of his words. May it resonate for you, too.

Read and enjoy- even more- change and lead.

"There was a time when the church was very powerful in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.

Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators"' But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests.

Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an arch defender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent and often even vocal sanction of things as they are." -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Letter from Birmingham Jail

Thanks to Austin at emergingtruth for his post that set this recollection in motion. It's a good reminder to challenge the status quo.

I don't know your ecclesiology; but, it seems reasonable that if a group of people, gathered for a purpose, miss the example of Christ, they may be called many things but a church - faithful to "obey all Christ has commanded"- is not on the list of monikers they should embrace.

“It is time we awaken to the fact that conformity to a sick society is to be sick.”
-Richard Foster

(Foster, Richard. Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth. San Francisco; The 25th Anniversary Edition: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998.)

The issues (albeit racism is still more of an issue than we may admit) today may vary; however, are we not called to be a people of God (with local expression) about the purposes of God, in step with the Word of God, and empowered by the Spirit of God, in a culture to whom we are called and set apart to serve? If this is true, drifting at ease with the status quo is not an option. Why? The gospel changes everything.

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On Loving and Lying

“We believe in a God who restores the years the locusts have eaten, who counts every individual as of extreme worth, who loves us so deeply that He transforms our very inner being and definitely brings healing which we all need, who in sending Jesus identifies totally with us in every suffering possible yet can carry us through, who never gives up on us, and who is passionate about relationship. We all came away from the evening with a renewed commitment to our community's priority of reaching out beyond our own familiar and comfortable worlds." -JOANNA GILLUM of the Community of St Jude (London)

Reading the Community of St. Jude’s website is refreshing. As Christ is formed in His people, it is refreshing to see the fruit of that formation evidenced in the character, values, and behavior of those who comprise a community of believers and claim captivity by Christ and His ways. Believers can be worlds apart – even centuries apart- and yet see a common evidence of God’s handiwork in His people across the globe and the span of time. For me, this is an encouraging reality; yet, based on some encounters with folks professing Christ, I must ask if we, the Body of Christ, really believe in a God who restores, values, transforms, heals, identifies in our suffering, never gives up, and is passionate about relationship?

I pray we do believe and that, as His people, we will increasingly choose to live and love accordingly? Sadly, muddying the waters of our relationships in ways that cloud the reality of His relationship with others and us seems to be the preferred course of many. This should not be. Rather, may we be known as a people who, whilst peculiar yet contextual, are about the business of blessing others and living Christ-like lives and pursuing Christ-like pursuits? Our impact on the community and world should be notable – even if we present a stumbling block to some. At least, those who disagree should be aware that we are here, transformed by Christ, and following Him whilst growing in grace and engaging our world.

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matt 28:18-20; NIV) Clear enough but are we growing towards “obeying all He has commanded? If we are, our presence as His church will be markedly known, felt, and seen – to the glory of Jesus.

Before closing, two passages and quote from John Stott come to mind. One is a passage from Luke, actually a reference by Christ to Isaiah 61, and the other a passage in 1 John 4. The book quote I will mention later.

Passage 1:

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:16-21; NIV)

Passage 2:

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. (1 John 4:7-21; NIV)

Maybe “walking in a manner worthy of our calling” a tall order? Yet, is it not our aim? Moreover, do we not have a calling to follow, grow, and belong rather than an invitation to seek selfish aims and comfort?

Consider this,

“It is a great mistake to suppose that it (salvation) is merely a synonym for forgiveness. God is as much concerned with our present and future as with our past. His plan is first to reconcile us to himself, and then progressively liberate us from our self-centeredness and bring us into harmony with our fellow men. We owe our forgiveness and reconciliation chiefly to the death of Christ, but it is by his Spirit we can be set free from ourselves and in his church that we can be united in a fellowship of love.” (Stott, John RW, Basic Christianity, Grand Rapids, MI, Wm. B Eerdmans Publishing Co., p. 98)

So, in closing, may we opt for growth and may we do so together- to His glory and for the good of creation.

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