September 11 and the Kingdom of Heaven
Eric at “A Pilgrim’s Progress” has written an excellent article called “Thinking About September 11th.” His article is a great reminder about the citizenship and loyalties of those who follow Jesus. We are but pilgrims living in the nations of this planet – foreigners, even. He says:
If we think about September 11th primarily as Americans, then we are thinking mainly patriotically and politically. What we probably remember most from that terrible day is Muslim extremists high jacking multiple airplanes, flying them into buildings, and killing thousands of people. Our emotional response is likely still one of anger. Our desire may still be what it was nine years ago: payback.
If we think about September 11th primarily as citizens of heaven, then our thinking should be much different. It ought to be theological instead of political. Our focus should be from God’s perspective instead of from the American perspective. In thinking this way, what did we see that day? We saw a great deal of sin and death.
And, as Eric says, this should lead us to remember and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ! Yes! We should always live as citizens of the kingdom of Heaven, whatever might happen among the kingdoms of this world.
Thanks, Eric!
Talking with Muslims
Once again, Dave Black has spelled out what should be common sense (or at least spiritual sense) for any Christian. He lists some thoughts about talking with Muslims from his experience (Friday, September 10, 2010 at 7:41 a.m.):
protect their dignity
affirm their value as persons
let your actions speak as loud as your words
become a friend
recognize that some will reject you
look for opportunities to serve them
allow them to serve you
ask questions
be slow to speak
become aware of religious barriers
introduce them to your family
refuse to argue
be sensitive to signs of receptivity
plead with God for their salvation
love, love, love
This seems to be a good way of speaking with and treating anyone… even Muslims.
Campfire Fellowship
Jon at “Jon’s Journey” wrote a great post last week called “Fellowship.” After defining fellowship/communion, Jon wrote:
This summer I’ve enjoyed some great fellowship around campfires, on friends decks, around dinner tables, and in living rooms. I’ve had some brief fellowship on Sunday mornings before and after the service. But I think the campfires were the best though.
I like Jon’s statement. First, he doesn’t discount the fellowship that he has with other before and after “church services.” But, he recognizes that he can also have fellowship (and at times, deeper fellowship) at other times.
By the way, I like campfire fellowship too. I also like coffee shop fellowship, and fellowship in homes and parks. In fact, the way our meeting is set up, we have great fellowship when we meet together as the church.
Where do you like to fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ?
Viola and Cole Defining Church
On his website “Reimagining Church,” Frank Viola has published an interview with himself and Neil Cole. (See “Neil Cole & Frank Viola Discuss Missional Organic Church.”) I love the way they each define “church”:
Neil Cole: In CMA, we have defined church this way: The presence of Jesus among His people, called out as a spiritual family to pursue His mission on this planet. Church begins and ends with Jesus among us. All the typical ingredients listed to describe church were in the upper room in Acts chapter one but the church really began in Acts chapter two when only one other important ingredient was added: the Spirit of God showed up! God among us is what makes us any different from the Elks Club.
Frank Viola: I’ve been using the word “organic church†or “organic expression of the church†for over 16 years. And I give credit to T. Austin-Sparks for the phrase. For Sparks and I, an organic church is a group of Jesus followers who are discovering how to live by Divine life together and who are expressing that life in a corporate way… Consequently, when God’s people learn how to live by the indwelling life of Christ together, a certain expression of community life naturally emerges. So for me, the word “organic†has to do with life – God’s life. The organic expression of the church comes up from the soil; it’s not mechanical. While it has organization (or an expression) – as all living organisms do – the organization (or expression) comes about naturally from the life, not through human manipulation, religious ritual, or legalism.
The entire interview is very good. You should read it.
A Heritage of Faith
For those of you who are not aware, Dave Black is my PhD mentor. BeckyLynn, his wife, is continuing to struggle with cancer. Yesterday, Dave penned this words about his thoughts while driving home from the hospital:
On the drive home today I was strangely nostalgic, thinking about the heritage I will one day leave to my children and grandchildren. More than ever, I’m beginning to realize that the most important lesson for our children today is the lesson of faith. Not faith in one’s job or the economy or our intellectual attainments. Not faith in all of our human achievements. But faith in God — the God who created each one us, who made everything from absolutely nothing. Faith in the God who has the power to see everything, who understands our deepest heartaches, who has all authority, who alone has the power to forgive sins and to restore broken relationships. Faith in the God who who can keep us from wallowing in despair and self-pity. Do I have such faith? Sometimes I feel like a miserable failure in this area of my life. But if I want the next generation to have such faith I must first possess it, and possess it in quantity.
Faith is huge… bigger than we think. I trust God, but I want to trust him more. And, even more than that, I want my family and friends to see that I am trusting God.
They don’t always see that. Thanks for the reminder, Dave.
Two on Preaching
There were (at least) two good posts last weekend about preaching and sermons:
Arthur at “The Voice of One Crying Out in Suburbia” states “Preaching the Word is not just for pastors.” His point (as the title indicates) is that all believers should take responsibility for preaching the word. This is his conclusion:
Being prepared to preach the Word, in season and out of season, is the responsibility and privilege of all Christians. It is antithetical to the witness of Scripture to restrict something so basic as proclaiming the Good News of Christ to a tiny minority in the church. As a believer in Jesus Christ, bought by His blood and regenerated by the Holy Spirit, I have the same responsibility to declare Christ to the world as Timothy or Paul. If you are His disciples, you have that same responsibility as well. Don’t let anyone tell you that your responsibility is restricted to sitting in your pew and listening to someone else.
You may notice that Arthur does not define the phrase “preach the word” that way it is often defined in churches. You see, Arthur has decided to use the NT definition and usage. So, Arthur is not talking about preaching in the same way that most churches use the term “preaching.” Instead, Arthur is saying that all believers should proclaim the gospel.
Also, Eric at “A Pilgrim’s Progress” talks about “Sermon Memory.” Eric says that he does not remember many sermons, even the ones that he’s preached. Eric says:
Why is this? Why is it difficult to remember sermons? The reason is that God did not make our brains primarily for one-way communication. I’m not suggesting that we can’t learn this way, but rather that the much better way to learn is through dialog/conversation. I think we would all agree that we retain much more information through engaging, back-and-forth conversation.
I agree with Eric on this too.
In fact, I’ll make a statement that many Christians will probably disagree with. I think the modern practice of sermonizing when the church meets (especially when the same person teaches in a monologue fashion week in and week out without discussion or dialog) is a hindrance to the growth and maturity of the church.
Those Crappy Worship Songs
(Can I say “Crappy” here? Yeah, I guess I can.)
If you haven’t seen it yet, and probably many of you have, please check out this sarcastic post called “Rant About Worship Songs.” Make sure that you check out the links for each “rant.” And, remember, it’s sarcasm…
I love sarcasm… and I know that some people hate sarcasm. So, you’ve been warned. If you don’t like sarcasm, then don’t click the link above.
Unless, of course, you like to complain about “crappy worship songs”… then you should definitely click the link above anyway. You might learn something interesting in the midst of all the sarcasm.
Participation and Worship
Since my post from earlier this morning was about worship, I thought that I would continue to topic by pointing out another (very good) post on the subject.
Mark (from “Called Out in Kansas“) recently attended a 2-day conference about worship. After returning, he wrote a few posts, including one called “After the Worship Conference.” He this post Mark also comments on my post “The Purpose of Participation” as well as Dan’s post “Stirring Up.”
In this last paragraph, especially, Mark adds alot of thought and insight to this discussion:
So, here’s the situation. I’ve been a vocal proponent of participatory style meetings, and very critical of traditional church models. I still believe that the New Testament model is participatory, and that a single pastorate system is unbiblical, and harmful to the maturity of the body. But, as pointed out by Alan and Dan in the above posts, just attending participatory meetings doesn’t guarantee that the end result will be any different than in the system we just left. My concern for this movement, if you want to call it that, is that we will recreate a system, and never achieve the maturity of the body described in Ephesians 4. Like Alan said, the goal is to become like Christ, or to literally become His body and bride, fully matured. Will meeting in a circle instead of in rows with a pulpit bring that about? Unfortunately, in and of itself, no. The question I now pose, after reading these posts, is what do we do IN these meetings that brings maturity? Certainly Hebrews 10:24-25 gives some insight, stating that we are to consider one another to stir up love and good works, which I interpret to mean we are to esteem others higher than ourselves, and care more for their needs than for our own. But I am not sure that this even gives the whole picture.
So, is it important to understand why we meet together? Why or why not? (I hope so… that’s what my PhD research and dissertation is all about.)
Stirring the Pot
Speaking of participation (we were, weren’t we?), I forgot to mention a great post by Dan (at “The Ekklesia in Southern Maine“) called “Stirring Up.” (Dan’s comment reminded me.)
In this post, Dan is asking about the purpose of gathering together. Is our purpose just to get together? Or is there something more. He writes:
So more importantly than the question of whether we gather or not we need to ask “are we considering one another, stirring up love and good works?†So, are we? Am I? That should be the question we ask ourselves. That should be our goal in gathering together. We can’t do this without gathering, but gathering doesn’t mean that this is happening either. maybe we should think about this when we go to church on Sunday, and assess our activities during that time through the lens of Scripture.
Hmmm… are we? Am I? Good questions.
(By the way, “stirring” can also be translated “provoking”… but not toward bad things, but toward love and good works, of course.)
Some ate too much; some got drunk
Please allow me an opportunity for a little levity concerning a very important subject.
Jon at “Jon’s Journey” has written a very good article looking at 1 Corinthians 11 concerning “The Lord’s Supper.”
As I thought about Paul’s admonition that some of the Corinthians were eating too much food while others were going hungry, I applied that to today’s practices. I pictured someone sneaking in and eating most of the little morsels of bread-like substance off of the plates.
Then, as I thought about Paul’s admonition that some were drinking so much wine that they were getting drunk, I also applied that to today’s practices. I pictured someone else sneaking in a drinking most of the wine (grape juice wouldn’t work in this case) from the small glasses and getting drunk.
For some reason, this was a funny image for me.