Friday, July 31, 2009

True Worship

Excerpt from Not in This or That Mount, but in Spirit and Truth (John Piper)

[based on John 4: 16-30]

...

When it says that this true worship happens in spirit and truth, it means at least this: you must be born of the Spirit in order to worship God, and you must come to him through the truth, that is, through Jesus, who said, “I am the way the truth and the life” (John 14:6).

Remember, Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” To worship God in spirit means to be born of the Spirit and therefore to be a living spirit. Before the new birth all we do is go to church or go to the synagogue or go to the mosque or the temple and act in the flesh. Whether we call ourselves Christians or Jews or Muslims or Hindus or Buddhists, we have no living spirit. We are dead and we don’t know God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.”

But when through faith in Jesus the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual life, we are born again. We have a living spirit. We can worship in spirit; our spirits are alive and we have God’s Spirit within. And now we can see and embrace truth—the Truth, Jesus Christ. Now we worship the Father in spirit—our Spirit-given, living spirit—and in truth—God’s supreme Truth, Jesus Christ the sum of all truth.

...


Every Detail Worked

26Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 foreknew he alsoFor those whom he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

[ESV]


26-28Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

29-30God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.

[The Message]

Romans 8


Thursday, July 30, 2009

Hands and Feet of Jesus

Excerpt from interview by Ed Stetzer with Geoff Surratt. author of Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches from Growing: How Leaders Can Overcome Costly Mistakes.

You mention in your book that "in spite of the megachurch movement of the last twenty years, more and more Americans are walking away from church and away from a relationship with Jesus." Besides your idea of strategic partnerships between churches, what are some other ideas you have for increasing the fruit of the local church and not just the growth?

First, I think that every pastor, whether they are leading a church of 50, 500 or 5000, should constantly re-evaluate how they can better lead through others. A church built around the personality or skills of just one leader may attract large crowds, but the fruit of that ministry will be short-lived. Every pastor should be giving away ministry on a daily basis. From decision making, to weekend preaching, to oversight of major ministries I believe pastors need to be looking at how they can develop new leaders to carry on the vision of the church. one of Jesus' main focuses while he was on earth was giving away ministry to his 12 disciples. If he had not trained those leaders and entrusted them with ministry Christianity might never have taken off. Nothing will increase the fruit of the local church like investing in the lives of leaders to do the work of the ministry.

The second thing I believe that churches need to do is to get people focused on mission. For too long the church has been about people learning and growing and experiencing. Without mission there is no point in growing disciples. My question when I hear about people being equipped is "What are they being equipped to do?" If there is no mission there is no reason to be equipped.

I believe we need to cancel Bible studies, discipleship courses and training events that aren't directly tied to people on being mission in the world to bring the Good News to a dying generation.

Finally, fruit will be increased when churches lower their force shields and begin to work together. At one of our Seacoast locations we go out into the very tough neighborhood once a month to be a blessing to people who have very little in life. We take them clothes, food, work in their yards, pick up their trash, anything that will show the love of Jesus in a tangible way. The cool part of the deal is that we have several churches who join together every month to minister to this neighborhood. We aren't worried about where the people go to church or if we can win them for our scorecard; we're all just trying to be the hands and feet of Jesus. There is powerful fruit in dropping our defenses and joining hands to make Jesus famous.

Pseudo Faith

"The man of pseudo faith will fight for his verbal creed but refuse flatly to allow himself to get into a predicament where his future must depend upon that creed being true. He always provides himself with secondary ways of escape so he will have a way out if the roof caves in. What we need very badly these days is a company of Christians who are prepared to trust God as completely now as they know they must do at the last day."

A. W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Moving Rhythmically in Response to Jesus

Permeated with Oneness (yesterday's Eph 4: 4-6 post), yet unique:

But that doesn't mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is,

He climbed the high mountain,
He captured the enemy and seized the booty,
He handed it all out in gifts to the people.
Is it not true that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ's followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ's body, the church, until we're all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.

Ephesians 4: 7-13 [The Message]

I'm All Yours

What you say goes, God,
and stays, as permanent as the heavens.
Your truth never goes out of fashion;
it's as up-to-date as the earth when the sun comes up.
Your Word and truth are dependable as ever;
that's what you ordered—you set the earth going.
If your revelation hadn't delighted me so,
I would have given up when the hard times came.
But I'll never forget the advice you gave me;
you saved my life with those wise words.
Save me! I'm all yours.
I look high and low for your words of wisdom.
The wicked lie in ambush to destroy me,
but I'm only concerned with your plans for me.
I see the limits to everything human,
but the horizons can't contain your commands!

Psalm 119: 89-96 [The Message]

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Permeated

A good prayer from Ephesians 4: 4-6 for our body of believers: permeated with Oneness

You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.

[The Message]

Monday, July 27, 2009

Reflection

As in water face reflects face,
so the heart of man reflects the man.

Proverbs 27: 19

God-Pleaser

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE FEAR OF MAN

Psalm 118:6-8
The LORD is for me; I will not fear; what can man do to me? The LORD is for me among those who help me; therefore I shall look with satisfaction on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man

David's question in Psalm 118:6 introduces a common fear among Christians: the fear of man. The timid man is quick to respond to the question, "I'll tell you what man can do to me. He can abuse me, he can fire me from my job, and he can even kill me."

True, but Jesus tells us to lay those fears aside: "Do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). If you fail to take God as your refuge, the fear of man will control your life.

God appointed Saul to be the first king of Israel and commanded him to utterly destroy Amalek, along with all of his family, followers and possessions. Unfortunately, Saul didn't completely obey. Samuel confronted Saul, and after Saul's excuses ran out, he confessed, "I have sinned . . . because I feared the people and listened to their voice" (1 Samuel 15:24). Then the Lord rejected Saul as king of Israel. More than one king has fallen for fearing man more than God.

Suppose you are intimidated by your boss. You work in fear of him from eight to five. What power does he have over you? He could fire you! How could you overcome that power? You could quit or be willing to quit. By not allowing your boss to hold the job over your head, you would free yourself from his intimidations. God's Word says, "Do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts" (1 Peter 3:14, 15).

I'm not suggesting that you rebel against your boss or become irresponsible. Servants are to obey their masters, and we are to work heartily as for the Lord rather than men (Colossians 3:22, 23). However, when you make God your sanctuary, you free yourself to live a responsible life. If you lose your job in the process, you have the assurance that God will meet all your needs.

Prayer:

Lord, I want to be a God-pleaser, not a people-pleaser. Give me strength to stand up for the truth no matter what the cost.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Truly Love Them

More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn't be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.

Henri Nouwen

Too Safe?

Excerpt from interview by Ed Stetzer with Jared Wilson, author of Your Jesus Is Too Safe

...

ES: You cite N.T. Wright and John Piper pretty much equally. There has obviously been tension there. Fill us in.

JW: I know, I know. I'm supposed to pick a team.

And honestly, if I'm picking a team for the atonement wars, I'm probably with Piper. I talk about that a bit in the book, but I am a fan of a symphonic view of the different biblical emphases on the atonement with penal substitution as sort of the sharp, leading edge of gospel understanding and proclamation.

I love both men and their work. They are the two most formative influences on my understanding of Jesus. And the book is sort of a literary mashup of Wright's (and others') historical Jesus scholarship and Piper's (and others') passionate proclamation of the glories of Christ.

ES: I know Element bills itself a missional community, and I know you've blogged extensively on the missional church. How does the book fit in or apply to the missional conversation? Or does it?

JW: I think it's human nature to favor one extreme over another. We like life on the pendulum. So in the missional church movement, if we can call it that, we find big bold preachers of Jesus' awesomeness who are very little action and we find folks who are big on action but downplay gospel proclamation. (And there's great folks who do both.) This isn't new and it isn't limited to missional Christianity. It's fundamentalist reductionism versus social gospel all over again.

I think what the book could do - and I don't talk about the missional church in the book; it's just not in the book's view - is push us to ponder if maybe we have a Preacher Jesus on one hand or a Activist Jesus on the other, and the corrective is not to trade one for the other but to look at who Jesus was and what he did. He preached and taught that the kingdom revolved around himself, and he healed, fed, clothed, raised, exorcised, etc. as if that were true. The closer we get to the biblical Jesus, the better our missiology and ecclesiology will be. I think that's a fairly obvious point nobody really needs me to point out. But the book, I hope, will help people get closer to the biblical Jesus.

...

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Nothing

Excerpt from Perry Noble's NOTHING Is Impossible With God

I began reading through the Gospel of Luke this week…and Luke 1:37 always captivates me,

“For nothing is impossible with God.”

This verse is the response of the angel Gabriel when asked by Mary, the mother of Jesus, how she was going to have a child since she was a virgin.

“For nothing is impossible with God.”

God is SO MUCH HIGHER than our problems, pain and perceived impossibilities that NOTHING is impossible with Him.

Mary’s question got her an answer that forced her to focus on the greatness of who God is…and the “impossibilties” that He can accomplish rather than depending on her own strength and wisdom.

“For nothing is impossible with God.”

SO…how about you…are you facing a seemingly impossible situation?

Maybe it’s your marriage…you’ve tried everything you know how to do and it looks like this is the week where you guys are going to hit the proverbial wall and it is all going to fall apart. You see no signs of things turning around and are tempted to give up…

...

Live in Dependence

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE POWER TO CHOOSE

Joshua 24:15
Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve. . . . As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD

Adam and Eve's sin also affected the area of their will. Do you realize that in the Garden of Eden they could only make one wrong choice? Everything they wanted to do was okay except eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16, 17). They had the possibility of making a myriad of good choices and only one bad choice-- only one !

Eventually, however, they made that one bad choice. As a result, you and I are confronted every day with a myriad of good and bad choices. You can choose to pray or not pray, read your Bible or not read your Bible, go to church or not go to church. You can choose to walk according to the flesh or according to the Spirit. You and I face countless choices like that every day, and we eventually make some bad ones.

Other than the Holy Spirit in your life, the greatest power you possess is the power to choose. Someone has said that pure Christianity lies in the exercise of the will. The animal kingdom operates out of divine instinct. But we are created in the image of God, which means we have a self-operated, independent will. The essence of temptation is to function independently of God. The basis for temptation is legitimate needs.

Sinful behavior is often a wrong attempt at meeting your basic needs. The real issue here is are you going to get your needs met by the world, the flesh and the devil, or are you going to allow God to meet your needs "according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19)? It's an issue of identity and maturity. The more you understand your identity in Christ, the more you will grow in maturity. And the more mature you become, the easier it will be for you to choose to live your life in dependence on your heavenly Father.

Prayer:

Lord, I determine to exercise my great power of choice to live in moment-by-moment dependence on You today.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Wells vs. Springs

Adam preached Sunday from John 4: 1-42. As I listened to the familiar story of the woman at the well I was struck by how God wants to give us things that are beyond our imagination or wildest dreams. I think it is illustrated by the difference between a well and a spring. The woman wanted to get water without trips to the well, but Jesus wanted to give her something she had never seen before that is so much better than a well.

11The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock." 13Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." 15The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water." [John 4]

The sad thing is that we have a tendency to not only prefer wells rather than springs but we also want to dig the well, even when it is not really "working for us".

12Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
be shocked, be utterly desolate,

declares the LORD, 13for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water. [Jeremiah 2]


If you have a well you have to go back every day to get water. Springs just flow and they are "fresh" water. That's what God wants to give us:

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" [John 7]

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Knowing God

Chip Ingram writes in God As He Longs for You to See Him:

In his classic Knowing God, J. I. Packer uses a study in Daniel to identify four measurements that help determine whether we actually know God (see appendix). These by-products of godly vision can be measured on four scales:

Amount of energy for God. Those who really know God have great energy for him. How much energy do you have for him?

Greatness of thoughts about God. Those who really know God have great thoughts about him. What are our thoughts about God like?

Degree of boldness for God. Those who really know God demonstrate boldness for him. How bold are you?

Level of contentment in God. Those who really know God find great contentment in him. How content does your relationship with God make you?

He'll Calm You and Delight You

Jerusalem will be told:
"Don't be afraid.
Dear Zion,
don't despair.
Your God is present among you,
a strong Warrior there to save you.
Happy to have you back, he'll calm you with his love
and delight you with his songs.

Zephaniah 3: 16-17 (The Message)

Monday, July 20, 2009

More and more abandoning themselves to God

Psalm 40: 1-3

I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD.

[ESV]


I waited and waited and waited for God. At last he looked; finally he listened.
He lifted me out of the ditch,
pulled me from deep mud.
He stood me up on a solid rock
to make sure I wouldn't slip.
He taught me how to sing the latest God-song,
a praise-song to our God.
More and more people are seeing this:
they enter the mystery,
abandoning themselves to God.

[The Message]

His Vision

Perry Noble post on Jesus Is A Micromanager

Guess what–Jesus is a micromanager…and I AM SO THANKFUL!!!

Contrary to the belief of some people…Jesus didn’t come to “unleash” us to live the life we’ve always wanted (SERIOUSLY…that would get bad VERY quick!) But rather He came and gave His life that we might LIVE for Him daily…and…

He knew we would completely screw this up…so…He sent us His Holy Spirit to fill us, to remind us, to guide us and to teach us HIS truth!

He didn’t leave us alone…and He didn’t tell us, “get a vision and go fulfill it”…He said, “I am ALMIGHTY GOD, I don’t need to hear your vision, you need to hear mine…it is good, pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:2) and I am going to equip and empower you to fulfill what I have called you to do!”

Jesus didn’t give us His Holy Spirit so that we can manage Him…but rather so He can manage us!!!


I am so glad I am not alone!!! John 16:12-14


Thinking

"What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."

A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy

A Diet Suggestion

Excerpts from Mark Batterson's interview in Catalyst: The Best Decision I Made This Year

If you asked me: what is the best decision you made this year? The answer is easy. The hands-down best decision was the decision to read through a one-year Bible.

Let me come clean. I didn’t read the Bible nearly as much as I could have or should have last year. This is embarrassing to admit, but Bible reading had become synonymous with sermon prep. I was reading it professionally instead of devotionally. I was reading it for what God wanted to say through me instead of reading it for what God wanted to say to me. And it took its toll.

Then at the end of last year I stumbled across an interview with J.I. Packer, the renowned author and theologian. He said, “Any Christian worth his salt ought to read the Bible from cover-to-cover every year.” It stung at first. But it made sense, so much sense that I decided to do it. And it has proved to be the best decision I made this year. Long story short, I’ve fallen in love with the Bible all over again.

If you want to grow spiritually, you need a consistent diet of Scripture. In fact, you will never outgrow your consumption of Scripture. There is no substitute. There is no supplement. The poet, T.S. Eliot, once observed: “Everything we eat has some effect upon us. It affects us during the process of assimilation and digestion; and I believe exactly the same is true of anything we read.” In other words, you are what you read.

I have a saying that I repeat to our congregation frequently: reading without meditating is like eating without digesting. If you want to absorb the nutrients, you can’t just read it. You’ve got to chew on it. You’ve got to digest it. Meditation is the way we metabolize Scripture.

...


One of the common complaints people make when leaving a church is this: I’m not being fed. As a preacher, my goal is to nourish our congregation via a well-rounded diet of sermons. And I try to preach every sermon like it’s my last, but let me push back. My kids learned to feed themselves when they were toddlers. If you’re not being fed, that’s your fault. I’m afraid we’ve unintentionally fostered a subtle form of spiritual codependency in our churches. It is so easy to let others take responsibility for what should be our responsibility. So we let our pastors study the Bible for us. Here’s a news flash: the Bible was unchained from the pulpit nearly five hundred years ago during an era of history called the Middle Ages.

If you are relying on a preacher to be fed, I fear for you. Listening to a sermon is second-hand knowledge. It is learning based on someone else’s words or experiences. A sermon is no replacement for first-hand knowledge. You’ve got to see it and hear it and experience it for yourself. It’s not enough to hear the truth. You have to own it. Or more accurately, it has to own you. Honestly, I’d rather have people hear one word from the Lord than a thousand of my sermons. And that happens when you open your Bible and start reading.


Thursday, July 16, 2009

Landscape You WIth the Word

In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.

James 1:21 (The Message)

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

How Good God Is

I bless God every chance I get; my lungs expand with his praise. I live and breathe God; if things aren't going well, hear this and be happy: Join me in spreading the news; together let's get the word out. God met me more than halfway, he freed me from my anxious fears. Look at him; give him your warmest smile. Never hide your feelings from him. When I was desperate, I called out, and God got me out of a tight spot. God's angel sets up a circle of protection around us while we pray. Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see— how good God is. Blessed are you who run to him.

Psalm 34: 1-8 (The Message)

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Always and All the Time

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. [ESV]

Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. [The Message]

1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

Friday, July 10, 2009

Wonderful What Happens

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Philippians 4: 6-7 (The Message)

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Focus

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE SOURCE OF ALL HOPE

Psalm 43:5
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, the help of my countenance, and my God

Sometimes the depression resulting from a seemingly impossible situation is related to a wrong concept of God. David wrote: "How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? . . . How long will my enemy triumph over me?" (Psalm 13:1, 2 NIV). Had God really forgotten David? Was He actually hiding from David? Of course not. David had a wrong concept of God, feeling that He had abandoned him to the enemy. David believed a lie about God, and consequently he lost his focus. His situation seemed hopeless, and hopelessness is the basis for all depression.

But the remarkable thing about David is that he didn't stay in the dumps. He evaluated his situation and realized, "Hey, I'm a child of God. I'm going to focus on what I know about Him, not on my negative feelings." From the pit of his depression, he wrote: "I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation" (Psalm 13:5 NIV). Then he decided to make a positive expression of his will: "I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me" (verse 6). He willfully moved away from his wrong concept and its accompanying depression and returned to the source of his hope.

If Satan can destroy your belief in God, you will lose your source of hope. But with God, all things are possible. He is the source of all hope. You need to learn to respond to hopeless-appearing situations as David did: "Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, the help of my countenance, and my God" (Psalm 43:5).

If Satan can't destroy your concept of God, then he will seek to destroy your concept of who you are as a child of God. He can't do anything about your position in Christ, but if he can get you to believe it's not true, you will live as if it's not, even though it is. The two most important beliefs you possess are who God is and who you are as His child.

Prayer:

Above all, Father, help me focus continually on who You are and who I am in Christ, and to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Be - And Experience - A Blessing

Then he turned to the host. "The next time you put on a dinner, don't just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks. You'll be—and experience—a blessing. They won't be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned—oh, how it will be returned!—at the resurrection of God's people."

Luke 14: 12-14 (The Messsage)

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Knowing

Larry Crabb quote

I know you well enough to know that you are all I have, but not well enough to know that you are all that I need.

Community

Excerpts from Modeling Community: An Interview with Mark Batterson | Neue Ministry

In your latest book, Wild Goose Chase, you hold the view that our lives with God should be an adventure. What part does community within the Body play in this adventure?

Well, I think life by yourself isn’t much of an adventure. I’m going to preface this by saying this: I would like to think that when I pronounce the Benediction at the end of our services, I am sending dangerous people back into their natural habitats to wreak havoc on the enemy. That really is the DNA of the book—that we’re about being on mission, and that’s part of the adventure of living for Christ. To me, the greatest adventure is God inviting us into this thing called the Great Commission—how He didn’t call us to do something on our own. God loves the adventure of doing things together, and in the same sense, the greatest joys in life are things that bring us closer together with one another. For example, I’ve got 100 life goals, and a lot of those goals involve other people. I want to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, but I don’t want to do it by myself; I want to do it with one of my kids. Or, I want to run a triathlon with one of my kids—there’s something about doing something together that synergizes the entire experience and makes it more adventurous.

...

Can you talk a little bit about the idea behind your unconventional church locations?

I went into church planting with a traditional mindset: meet and rent a facility so we can buy or build a church building. And then we started meeting in Union Station and realized that you can’t build a Union Station. I mean, 25 million people pass through Union Station every year; it’s the most visited destination in D.C. We have food-court restaurants, great movie theater screens—and not too many churches have their own subway system. It is the perfect set-up. At some point, doing church in the marketplace became part of our DNA, so movie theaters are not short-term rental options for us. They’re our long-term strategy. Our vision is to meet in movie theaters and Metro stops around the D.C. area. That’s kind of the theater side. We also own and operate the largest coffeehouse in Capitol Hill, and we get asked a lot, “Why would a church build a coffeehouse?” The reason behind it is that Jesus didn’t just hang out at the synagogue; Jesus hung out at wells. Wells were not just a place to draw water; they were natural gathering places in ancient culture. Coffeehouses are our postmodern wells.

We wanted to create a place where church and community could cross paths. If we would have built a church, I don’t know how many people in our neighborhood would have gotten excited. When we said we were going to build a coffeehouse, we became heroes in our neighborhood. We have free Wi-Fi; we have a place where people can hang out, have a conversation and get a great cup of coffee. And, hopefully, they’ll land at one of our Saturday night services or one of our events, and we’re finding that that’s exactly what’s happening. It is really cool being in the marketplace and feeling like the message is getting out because we’re rubbing shoulders with people every day.

...


Anything More?

Post from Perry Noble: 10 Questions Church Leaders Should Ask Themselves

#1 - Am I loving “social networking” more than Jesus?

#2 - Am I loving my particular brand of theology more than Jesus?

#3 - Am I loving my particular worship style more than Jesus?

#4 - Am I loving my platform more than Jesus?

#5 - Am I loving attention more than Jesus?

#6 - Am I loving facilities more than Jesus?

#7 - Am I loving opportunities more than Jesus?

#8 - Am I loving ritual more than Jesus?

#9 - Am I loving success more than Jesus?

#10 - Am I loving the ministry more than Jesus?

Basically…am I loving ANYONE or ANYTHING more than Jesus!


Monday, July 06, 2009

Prayer

David Jeremiah: The Warrior's Prayer (based on Ephesians 6)

The Warrior's Prayer

Heavenly Father
Your Warrior prepares for battle!
Today I claim victory over Satan by putting on
The Whole Armor of God!

I put on the girdle of Truth!
May I stand firm in the truth of Your WORD.
So I will not be a victim of Satan's lies.

I put on the Breastplate of Righteousness!
May it guard my heart from evil
So I will remain pure and holy.
Protected under the Blood of Jesus Christ.

I put on the shoes of peace!
May I stand firm in the Good News of the Gospel
so Your peace will shine through me
And be a light to all I encounter.

I take the shield of Faith!
May I be ready for Satan's fiery darts of
doubt, denial and deceit
So I will not be vulnerable to spiritual defeat.

I put on the Helmet of Salvation!
May I keep my mind focused on You
so Satan will not have a stronghold on my throughts.

I take the Sword of the Spirit!
May the two-edged sword of Your WORD
be ready in my hands so I can expose
the temtping world of Satan.

By faith your warrior has put on the
Whole Armor of God!

I am prepared to live this day in
SPIRITUAL VICTORY!

Amen!


Provide a Glimpse

What I'm getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you've done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I'm separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.

Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I'll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You'll be living proof that I didn't go to all this work for nothing.

Even if I am executed here and now, I'll rejoice in being an element in the offering of your faith that you make on Christ's altar, a part of your rejoicing. But turnabout's fair play—you must join me in my rejoicing. Whatever you do, don't feel sorry for me.

Philippians 2: 12-18 (The Message)


Thursday, July 02, 2009

Life of Jesus

More from ReThink

Rethink Monthly: What topics/scripture has God been speaking to you, causing you to rethink lately?

Margaret Feinberg: On a recent trip to Israel, we visited the Garden where Jesus’ resurrection may have taken place. As I walked inside the tomb, I was once again reminded of the resurrecting power of Jesus, just the fact that our God is a God of life, who gives life; who brings back to life. Sometimes it’s easy to fall into the trap of sorting through culture wars, keeping a list of do’s and don’ts, or even who’s stacking up the best ammo when it comes to arguing a hot topic of faith. But when Jesus boldly proclaimed, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” He didn’t just say those words, He lived them. The word “life” was never meant to be interpreted as number 3 on the list…something we’ll get to. Life flowed out of Jesus everywhere He went—healing, giving hope, challenging, and even resurrecting. All of this has made me question how much of the life of Jesus I really have. How much do I give that life to others? This thinking and rethinking makes me want to experience more of the life of Christ, and allow it to flow out of me like living waters.


Will Be Exalted!

Come, behold the works of the LORD,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
"Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!"
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

Psalm 46: 8-11

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

A Very Present Help

Sometimes, especially in these troubling times, I need to be reminded that I will not fear even if the earth gives way because God is with me.

Psalm 46: 1-3

God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him.
We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,
courageous in seastorm and earthquake,
Before the rush and roar of oceans,
the tremors that shift mountains.

Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

[The Message]


God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
Selah

[ESV]