I am reading Henry and Richard Blackaby's EXPERIENCING GOD: DAY BY DAY (B&H Publishers, 1997) this year. Today's reading begins with this question:"Are you satisfied with merely knowing the acts of God, or do you also want to know His ways? I confess I was caught off guard by that question. I often pray for God to do, to act, to move, to prove Himself strong and the like. But, when was the last time I prayed, Lord, let me see Your character, Your nature, Your attributes? A little further into the reading Blackaby notes, "The way God acted provided a window into His nature."
As our church- and their pastor- seeks to transition to become the kind of people God needs us to be to make His presence known in our community, we - the church and her pastor- must look beyond the great things God does and learn to see His great and incomparable nature.
I think that might help with the untangling I've been streggling with as well- trying to seperate our inaccurate cultural understanding of God from the accurate Biblical description.
So, today- I want to see beyond God's protection and provision and see God as One who is deeply passionate about me- so that I might deepen my passion for Him.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Still Untangling
I recently started reading Richard John Neuhas' American Babylon. An interesting read. He makes this observation: "American theology has suffered from an ecclesiological deficit, leading to an ecclesiological substitution of America for the Church through time"(p. 41). It has long been my contention that Southern Baptists have not had a clearly defined theology of 'church.' Southern Baptist's expansion during the post WW II years may have very well been fueled by a growing sense of national pride and hunger for American supremacy as much as a genuine hunger to grow deeply in the things of God (at least in my humble opinion).
A few pages later Neuhas mentions James Madison's "Memorial and Remonstrance" of 1785 in which Madison suggested that those who enter the political community must have a prior allegiance to God and the laws of God (see Neuhas, 50).
Of course Neuhas writes as a Catholic, suggesting that the Catholic Church is THE church that can locate individual's identity as believers.
So, further untangling is needed. Setting the gospel free from nationalistic leanings, allowing the Gospel to be about the Kingdom of God (see Mark 1:13-15)is the only true hope for individuals. The 'how' is still something I think about, pray about, and try and understand.
A few pages later Neuhas mentions James Madison's "Memorial and Remonstrance" of 1785 in which Madison suggested that those who enter the political community must have a prior allegiance to God and the laws of God (see Neuhas, 50).
Of course Neuhas writes as a Catholic, suggesting that the Catholic Church is THE church that can locate individual's identity as believers.
So, further untangling is needed. Setting the gospel free from nationalistic leanings, allowing the Gospel to be about the Kingdom of God (see Mark 1:13-15)is the only true hope for individuals. The 'how' is still something I think about, pray about, and try and understand.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Untangling
In much of the reading I've been doing (Niebuhr, The Irony of American History , Liederbach and Reid, The Convergent Church, and Scott Moore, The Limits of Liberal Democracy, I have been made aware-again- of how deeply tangled Christianity has become with what it means to be an American. I know this is old hat to many, but I am struggling with exactly how to untangle the two. Of course I am a patriot. I believe in the tenets of our freedom as Americans and I supported Pres. Bush's efforts to create an environment for democracy in both Iraq and Afghanistan. But....where do our commitments to the unadulterated gospel of Jesus Christ and the commitments to our representative form of government need to be pulled apart? And more importantly, how do we live out the gospel in our own culture in a way that clearly delineates between the two?
Living in the rural northwestern United States I am surrounded by unchurched people who think they share common convictions about God, family, America, and apple pie! The more I reflect on the truth of God's Word and American history the more I am convinced that there is very little common ground between the two groups.
I was reading this morning in 1 Peter 1 and was struck by several things- First, believers are temporary residents; second, believers are chosen by God's foreknowledge; third, we have been set apart for sanctified/holy living; and fourth, the goal of our faith is eternal salvation. These identifying marks are in contrast to marks of American citizenship. How we untangle these two systems is a challenge.
I don't know if any of this makes sense, but it does reflect what is happening in my life right now.
I am also trying to prepare for a re-visioning process this summer. I've been pastor almost 18 years. We have done church a particular way for these years, and we are seriously in need of an overhaul- we are having a great time when we come together on Sunday's and Wednesday's but we are having little or no kingdom impact on the community in which we live.
So, welcome to my world!
God is good...all the time...God is good!
Living in the rural northwestern United States I am surrounded by unchurched people who think they share common convictions about God, family, America, and apple pie! The more I reflect on the truth of God's Word and American history the more I am convinced that there is very little common ground between the two groups.
I was reading this morning in 1 Peter 1 and was struck by several things- First, believers are temporary residents; second, believers are chosen by God's foreknowledge; third, we have been set apart for sanctified/holy living; and fourth, the goal of our faith is eternal salvation. These identifying marks are in contrast to marks of American citizenship. How we untangle these two systems is a challenge.
I don't know if any of this makes sense, but it does reflect what is happening in my life right now.
I am also trying to prepare for a re-visioning process this summer. I've been pastor almost 18 years. We have done church a particular way for these years, and we are seriously in need of an overhaul- we are having a great time when we come together on Sunday's and Wednesday's but we are having little or no kingdom impact on the community in which we live.
So, welcome to my world!
God is good...all the time...God is good!
Monday, May 11, 2009
In Case You Asked
I've mentioned this several times in teaching/preaching opportunities. I pray Scripture over my immediate family. Here is the current list of verses I pray for my wife and children-
Cindy- Hebrews 13:20-21; Megan-Ephesians 1:17; Josh and Kalaya-Eph 1:18. I change verses when I sense God leading me to change, or when one of my family members mentions a specific challenge. This is not a unique practice to me, but some have asked, so there it is!
Cindy- Hebrews 13:20-21; Megan-Ephesians 1:17; Josh and Kalaya-Eph 1:18. I change verses when I sense God leading me to change, or when one of my family members mentions a specific challenge. This is not a unique practice to me, but some have asked, so there it is!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Driven to my knees
"Surprise! Surprise!"- Remember Gomer Pyle?
Anyway...two posts-one right after the other...
I was reading from Mark 5- the account of Jairus and his daughter. I wondered if there are any of us who are desperate enough to lay hold of Jesus for the restoration of His church? Even when the crowd thought that the girl was dead, Jesus told Jairus- "Don't be afraid! Only believe" (Mark 5:36). Are we who are engaged with the local church willing and desperate enough to believe that Jesus can restore life to His people?
One other thought- unrelated to the first-
After spending last weekend with 850 or so teenagers and their adult leaders, I was impressed with the fervency of their worship. I enjoyed Josh Martin and his worship team immensely. My fear is that many of those teenagers went home to their churches on Sunday and were, well, less than impressed with the quality of their own worship services. As I try and process this I am deeply moved about one significant issue. Most of our worship services are seriously lacking in fervency. Perhaps it is time- probably past time- to be reminded of the glory and grandeur of our God so that when we come to worship His presence fills our minds and hearts so that regardless of the musical style, regardless of the musical preferences of the worship leaders,our worship is heart-felt, fervent, and full of passion for the reality of God's presence. I shared with my congregation this last Sunday a passage from Rev 4 where John was privilged to experience a heavenly worship service- reading that makes me think of an overload of sensory experience- sights, sounds, physical expressions that are beyond our ability to process normally. Are we enthralled with God when we worship? Or are we enthralled by the ability and talent of those leading the worship service? Just some random thoughts that are driving me to my knees!
Anyway...two posts-one right after the other...
I was reading from Mark 5- the account of Jairus and his daughter. I wondered if there are any of us who are desperate enough to lay hold of Jesus for the restoration of His church? Even when the crowd thought that the girl was dead, Jesus told Jairus- "Don't be afraid! Only believe" (Mark 5:36). Are we who are engaged with the local church willing and desperate enough to believe that Jesus can restore life to His people?
One other thought- unrelated to the first-
After spending last weekend with 850 or so teenagers and their adult leaders, I was impressed with the fervency of their worship. I enjoyed Josh Martin and his worship team immensely. My fear is that many of those teenagers went home to their churches on Sunday and were, well, less than impressed with the quality of their own worship services. As I try and process this I am deeply moved about one significant issue. Most of our worship services are seriously lacking in fervency. Perhaps it is time- probably past time- to be reminded of the glory and grandeur of our God so that when we come to worship His presence fills our minds and hearts so that regardless of the musical style, regardless of the musical preferences of the worship leaders,our worship is heart-felt, fervent, and full of passion for the reality of God's presence. I shared with my congregation this last Sunday a passage from Rev 4 where John was privilged to experience a heavenly worship service- reading that makes me think of an overload of sensory experience- sights, sounds, physical expressions that are beyond our ability to process normally. Are we enthralled with God when we worship? Or are we enthralled by the ability and talent of those leading the worship service? Just some random thoughts that are driving me to my knees!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Changes
This past week I began the process of re-visioning and dreaming about the future of my ministry and the assignment God has given Community Baptist Church. Space does not permit me to share everything that I am learning and since I have not presented any of this information to my leadership team I want to share just some broad strokes of what I sense God doing.
First, after an unusual week- Wednesday and Thursday of this past week I experienced a nearness to God I have not experienced for quite some time. During some prayer and Bible study times God began to unveil for me some principles that I believe can transform our ministry. Then Friday and Saturday my wife and I took several of our teenagers and two young adults to Vancouver, WA for the NWBC Student Conference. Watching yet another generation of teenagers who are unashamedly passionate about their relationship with God I was humbled. I was reminded that I too once shared a similar passion. But ‘church,’ ‘ministry,’ and the business of pastoring had gotten in the way. I hungered for a freedom to sing and participate in worship as these young people around me were experiencing. I was forcefully reminded that if there was a problem, it was not that God’s passion for me, or for this world had changed, but that something inside of me had changed. And since the problem was in me, no one else could come close to a solution.
I had been working on a message from Exodus 15 all week. That song of Moses and the Israelites helped uncover for me some primary choices that our church must make in order to be where God needs us to be.
First, we have to recover a God-sized vision of who God is. We have reduced God to a slightly larger version of ourselves. We need to recover some of what John experienced on the island of Patmos- see Rev 4.
Second, we have to learn to express that which we claim to feel. The words of our songs are not the problem- whether they are worship choruses written last week or the great hymns of the faith written in the past 300 years. The problem is we just don’t mean what we sing any more. We have allowed our stereotypes to restrict our expression. When I was courting my wife I would go hours without sleeping if I had the chance to spend time with her, I would go without eating; I would do whatever it took to find ways to spend time with her, to express my feelings for her. When it comes to spending time with God we seem to have many other priorities and many other activities that require our time. When it comes to truly expressing our feelings in worship we are hesitant, we are afraid others will be offended, we have an entire list of excuses that seem to keep us from expressing what we feel. I can’t help but wonder if we really glimpsed the nature of God how our worship would change. I also wonder if somewhere we have communicated to the lost world around us that we are much more excited about our favorite sports teams than we are about God who has rescued us from an eternity of darkness and absence!
Third, we must renew our commitment to tell the world about Jesus To tell the world about Jesus will require us partnering with believers- regardless of the name on their building. To tell the world about Jesus will require a costly commitment- in every part of life.
So, in broad strokes this is a new direction for our church. What it will look like, what forms it will take, and what kind of changes it will require are still to be determined.
The change MUST begin with me.
This past week I began the process of re-visioning and dreaming about the future of my ministry and the assignment God has given Community Baptist Church. Space does not permit me to share everything that I am learning and since I have not presented any of this information to my leadership team I want to share just some broad strokes of what I sense God doing.
First, after an unusual week- Wednesday and Thursday of this past week I experienced a nearness to God I have not experienced for quite some time. During some prayer and Bible study times God began to unveil for me some principles that I believe can transform our ministry. Then Friday and Saturday my wife and I took several of our teenagers and two young adults to Vancouver, WA for the NWBC Student Conference. Watching yet another generation of teenagers who are unashamedly passionate about their relationship with God I was humbled. I was reminded that I too once shared a similar passion. But ‘church,’ ‘ministry,’ and the business of pastoring had gotten in the way. I hungered for a freedom to sing and participate in worship as these young people around me were experiencing. I was forcefully reminded that if there was a problem, it was not that God’s passion for me, or for this world had changed, but that something inside of me had changed. And since the problem was in me, no one else could come close to a solution.
I had been working on a message from Exodus 15 all week. That song of Moses and the Israelites helped uncover for me some primary choices that our church must make in order to be where God needs us to be.
First, we have to recover a God-sized vision of who God is. We have reduced God to a slightly larger version of ourselves. We need to recover some of what John experienced on the island of Patmos- see Rev 4.
Second, we have to learn to express that which we claim to feel. The words of our songs are not the problem- whether they are worship choruses written last week or the great hymns of the faith written in the past 300 years. The problem is we just don’t mean what we sing any more. We have allowed our stereotypes to restrict our expression. When I was courting my wife I would go hours without sleeping if I had the chance to spend time with her, I would go without eating; I would do whatever it took to find ways to spend time with her, to express my feelings for her. When it comes to spending time with God we seem to have many other priorities and many other activities that require our time. When it comes to truly expressing our feelings in worship we are hesitant, we are afraid others will be offended, we have an entire list of excuses that seem to keep us from expressing what we feel. I can’t help but wonder if we really glimpsed the nature of God how our worship would change. I also wonder if somewhere we have communicated to the lost world around us that we are much more excited about our favorite sports teams than we are about God who has rescued us from an eternity of darkness and absence!
Third, we must renew our commitment to tell the world about Jesus To tell the world about Jesus will require us partnering with believers- regardless of the name on their building. To tell the world about Jesus will require a costly commitment- in every part of life.
So, in broad strokes this is a new direction for our church. What it will look like, what forms it will take, and what kind of changes it will require are still to be determined.
The change MUST begin with me.
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