Comment Highlights for Week of May 8, 2011
As I mentioned in the first post in this series, I want to highlight some of the comments that have been left on my blog posts during the past week. Hopefully, this will give more visibility to some of the reasons that I love blogging – dialog and interaction.
The first comment that I want to highlight comes from Lora on my post “Start loving your neighbor by getting to know your actual neighbors.” She writes:
I am seeing in certain circles a disdain for putting feet to our faith. I recently heard a pastor say that to want to make an impact on your community was Marxism and social justice. He was actually preaching out of Romans on zeal without knowledge and said that to want to impact your city showed that you had zeal without knowledge. Using the terms Marxism and social justice when you are discussing the government trying to meet every need is appropriate, but I was quite stunned to hear it applied to the church meeting needs. Such statements aren’t being backed up with scripture obviously, but I have heard some in that camp state that when scripture talks about the widows and orphans it is only talking about those within the body of Christ.
Jeph left this great comment on my post “When a leader is just one person among the church“:
This topic is huge. The discussion alone registers on the Richter Scale.
I think A-Love, hitting on the ‘title’, makes legitimate sense. There’s power in titles. It’s an American phenomenon. It adds weight to a position, or it can equally demean someone else. It’s amazing what a title does. Or a corner office. But, you’re right. The essence is simply about removing ‘control’ from the list of must-haves and allow for the Body to move per the Head’s request. Some thoughts:
1. It makes people feel comfortable to know where they stand. If ‘that guy’s’ the leader, then I feel safe.
2. If someone else is doing the ‘leading’, then they don’t have to.
3. (this one is more internally related) Ministers have done a great job setting up a hierarchy, creating job security, and limiting access to the power in church, all for the sake of protecting their futures.In many ways we resemble a Catholic set up where we’d admit it or not. We’ve got this guy (or several guys) going to God on our behalf, telling us what to do, and making us wait with bated breath as to our next steps. We don’t train people to get up and move, nor do they always act like they want to, but you’re right…
…it needs to happen in order to change things.
Jack left this comment on my post “New Testament Foundations for Itinerant Servants: Paul’s Letters“:
Reading Phil 1 Paul illustrates his lack of competition or rivalry between other brothers. Phil 1:18. He had reason to be jealous or angry at certain brothers per Phil 1:15-17, but he restrained himself and rejoiced in the fact that Christ was proclaimed.
Whether itinerant or not, we all can glean from that example.
And, Art left this comment on the same post:
What is remarkable, is that nowhere do the epistles directly address elders/pastors with responsibility to solve/resolve church issues. That is explicitly directed to all of the saints. If there were a hierarchy where the saints were “under” the leadership (decision making, authority, etc.), then these letters would be an incredible affront to their position.
Imagine a denominational leader today addressing the general church body without at least acknowledging the responsibility of the “leadership” to address the concerns of the letter. What a slight! How they would be seen as overstepping their authority and meddling.
Look at the number and extent of problems in Corinth, and yet, nothing is directed to the “leadership” to “fix.” Pretty amazing. I’m surprised no one seems to notice how glaringly obvious the differences are between our day and the NT era is in terms of the lack of hierarchy and the lack of recognition of pastoral authority/repsonibility for the actions of the church.
Comment Highlights for Week of May 1, 2011
As I mentioned in the first post in this series, I want to highlight some of the comments that have been left on my blog posts during the past week. Hopefully, this will give more visibility to some of the reasons that I love blogging – dialog and interaction.
Each week it seems to get harder and harder to pick only a few from the many, many great comments that I get on my blog each week. This week is certainly no different.
Here’s a comment from Mark on my post “The Ascension of Jesus Christ“:
This week we were talking about the ascension. We concluded that the ascension is a severely underemphasized doctrine in the modern church (if early Christian creeds are any example then it was more valued in historic Christianity). In any case, we decided that the ascension is crucial because it paved the way for the Holy Spirit (as you so clearly explained), it places Jesus in his role as intercessor at the right hand of the Father, and it sets the stage for His glorious return.
Here’s another comment from Bobby on my post “What is Pentecost?“:
I love to speculate
one of the things I find marvelous about the timing of the passover and pentecost is the apparent foreshadowing of the traditions of Jews. After passover, the children would count down the days in anticipation for celebrating the giving of the law. On the day of pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the firstfruits and the law was written on their hearts.
while it may be speculation, the grand truth is this: we are Gods fruit bearing seed and we no longer have to follow a code of conduct because the conductor lives in us.
Here’s a comment we should all think about. It was left by Stephanie on my post “Is it lack of knowledge? Is it apathy? Is it something else?“:
Growing up in a small baptist church, I was told many things. I was told to go to church every Sunday because that was where I could worship God. I was told to memorize certain bible verses so I could repeat them to unbelievers during our summer missions trips. I was told that having a daily devotional book would make me a stronger better Christian. I was also told hundreds of things I should not do. I was never, not once, told to love people.
I’m rambling, but my point is that I’m not convinced people are totally apathetic. I think they are lost. They are always being told what to do, a lot of them have forgotten how to think for themselves. They don’t read their bibles because their bibles will be read to them on Sunday morning. And even if they were to pick it up themselves, other than being able to find the key verses they were told to memorize, I’m not sure they would know how to find anything. I’m not sure…just rambling.
Josh left this comment on my post “Thinking about itinerant servants and the church“:
Itinerant is a good word, but I usually prefer the term “worker.” It’s biblical, plus it lacks the misrepresentation and abuse that you’ve mentioned revolves around the word apostle.
Like you’ve already pointed out, Alan, first century workers moved about from place to place; none of them settled down to be the resident priest (or pastor) over a particular congregation. There is good reason for this.
The need for such workers is no less today than it ever has been. The church I gather with has recently been blessed to find one such brother, and the benefit of his ministry to our assembly has been substantial.
Comment Highlights for Week of April 24, 2011
As I mentioned in the first post in this series, I want to highlight some of the comments that have been left on my blog posts during the past week. Hopefully, this will give more visibility to some of the reasons that I love blogging – dialog and interaction.
Aussie John asked a good question in a comment on my post “Replay: He washed their stinkin’ feet“:
Those who claim to be called to function as elders/pastors, who never wash feet by sitting in the dust with those who are there, getting dirt under their well manicured fingernails, feeling the sweat running down their brows, as they bend their backs alongside those who are strangers to the love of Christ.
If they never sit where these people sit, and wear their shoes, people without hope, how can they claim to be servants of the living Christ?
Art left a comment with this great testimony to God’s faithfulness on my post “What has God been doing in your life lately?” (And, yes, this comment led to lunch between Art and myself.):
My 18 month contract job ended Apr 15th. Been through that many times, and I leaned into Him apprehensively, but knowing He would be with me. It is still a little unsettling.
Jacob, a young acquaintance of mine who is a recruiter, came out of nowhere to help (a friend of a friend mentioned my situation to him). He spent hours helping me reshape my resume into what amounts to a jargon filled database entry posted onto several job boards so recruiter searches would find it. He spent time explaining what the current job market was like for my field, and coached me on what recruiters are looking for in candidates (vs what hiring managers are looking for). All for free.
I can’t put in words how much his unexpected attention and care comforted my wife and I through what can be an anxious transition. It reminded me again that God visits us through people (“Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;…†II Cor 7:6).
First in person interview was last Friday. Started yesterday–yep, already working again–decidedly NOT my usual experience in these things (in Wake Forest–ahem–lunch maybe one day Alan?).
Dan left a comment with a good addition to my post “Definition: Ecclesiology“:
You left out one source that we cannot avoid drawing our beliefs from: our culture and worldview. That is probably knit-picky to point out but I think it plays a HUGE role in this specific subject, and what makes it’s influence SO powerful is that it is almost entirely ignored and overlooked.
Finally, Doug left this great comment on my post “Can you ‘pastor’ someone if they can’t get in touch with you?”
Alan, you added “I just have one more point to add to Mike’s critique: If someone cannot get in touch with you, then you are not pastoring that person. If someone cannot spend one-on-one time with you, then you are not pastoring that person. It seems fairly simple to me.â€
I am in full agreement. We have a saying around Connections using the acronym AIR.
Jesus is Approachable, Impartial, and Relational. If I as pastor cannot project these qualities I cannot expect others to do so. Everyone at Connections has my cell number. I do, of course have to manage my time and proprieties by situation but I am approachable and am easily contacted.
Comment Highlights for Week of April 17, 2011
As I mentioned in the first post in this series, I want to highlight some of the comments that have been left on my blog posts during the past week. Hopefully, this will give more visibility to some of the reasons that I love blogging – dialog and interaction.
Ben left this excellent comment on my post “Replay: What’s the big deal about church discipline?“:
I greatly enjoyed this post. I’m wondering, however, if your concluding statement is in need of qualification. Wouldn’t you agree that church discipline benefits the local assembly as well as the one in sin? Certainly the practice or promotion of false teaching or immoral living requires action from the church, regardless of whether or not the one in need of correction has developed strong relationships with the others in the assembly. When false teaching and sinful behavior are dealt with, the purity of the church is preserved. This doesn’t seem meaningless to me.
I’m not attempting to discount the importance of fellowship when it comes to church discipline. As you clearly demonstrated, this is extremely important when it comes to the restoration of the sinning member. I’m simply wondering whether or not you would agree that there might be benefits of church discipline that are not contingent upon the type of fellowship that exists. While there are certainly problems with exercising church discipline apart from true fellowship, there are also problems with not exercising church discipline at all out of a fear that true fellowship has not been achieved.
Bob left a very good comment (as well as a good series of comments) on my post “People recognize shallow relationships among the church“:
I do think that it is important to note that “family†has a very wide context with varying commitments. A Father’s commitment to his children is certainly different than that to one of his siblings and even less to a second cousin. So if we are to use the imagery of family, I think that it is important to acknowledge that, even though we are all connected spiritually, the relational aspects of family are very different depending on the context.
David wrote this comment on my post “Can you disciple someone who disagrees with you? Can you be discipled by someone who disagrees?“:
I think the purpose of discipleship is to help one another learn to know Jesus Christ. I believe we should not endeavor to tell our brother or sister what to do or think but rather help them to discover what JC is saying to them. JC has a unique relationship with each of His brother & sisters and what He is saying to us where we are at in our walk with Him may be different to that which He saying to others in their walk with Him. The Bible has good principles to guide us but if JC is not giving these principles life in an individual’s walk they become just Law and will lead to condemnation.
Art, as usual, left an awesome comment on my post “Disagreement is not Disunity.” Here is part of his comment:
If I understand your point, and its implications, then we should be more concerned that other saints obey what they understand without being discouraged and attacked, than that they change what they understand to “my†or “our†understanding (well, and of course we both consider our understandings to be more perfect and correct, or we would change them–unless ego and pride gets in the way!).
Comment Highlights for Week of April 10, 2011
As I mentioned in the first post in this series, I want to highlight some of the comments that have been left on my blog posts during the past week. Hopefully, this will give more visibility to some of the reasons that I love blogging – dialog and interaction.
Once again, there were so many great comments on this blog that it was next to impossible to choose only a few to highlight. Next to impossible… but not impossible. So, here are a few comments that I think more people should read.
Marissa asks some good questions in a comment that she left on an older post called “Women Serving in Context.” Here is part of her comment:
Do you think it’s really possible to submit to someone even though we disagree with them – if we are disagreeing with them because they’re wrong? After all, if the person in question is promoting sin, for example, let’s say the elders of a fellowship start teaching the church to steal, God would never expect us to submit to them or to their teaching when we know that what they want us to submit to is sinful.
Hence, the Bible only expects God’s people to submit to those who are living godly lives, we’d be crazy to submit to everyone, when we know that not everyone in the fellowship is preaching truth. God never told us to bow down to error.
And, in a comment on the same post, Arthur explains how he and his wife to submit to those with whom they disagree:
As far as the dealing with differences issue which IS the point of the post, we have over the course of the last year met with the church in all sorts of context. In some the women cover and do not teach. In others, where we are currently for example, the women don’t cover and do some of the teaching. While my wife and I are of one mind on this matter we still gladly fellowship with others of a different view even though we consider this an important issue because after all they are my brothers and sisters in Christ. What unites us trumps what doesn’t. My wife feels free to cover and likewise elects not to teach but we don’t break fellowship with those who believe otherwise.
Aussie John left a great comment and example on my post “People recognize shallow relationships among the church“:
The survey speaks volumes about the reasons why people “attend churchâ€.
One statement was particularly interesting to me: “A welcoming community makes it a positive experience for the entire congregation and visitorsâ€, reminding me of a time when my wife and I were given the opportunity to be with a Greek speaking congregation.
We understood very little, of what was said, but we left that meeting blessed more than ever before,or since,with a sense of Jesus Christ in the midst. Without doubt, they were family whose genuine love for one another,and for we, whom they had never met,was palpable.
That was a one off experience, of what the centurion Cyrus was speaking of when he said, “I cannot understand these people of the Way. They love one another, even before they meetâ€.
I also really appreciate this comment by Scott on my post “Which book of the New Testament do you wish you understood better?“:
Revelation.
I taught through this book over a period of a year and a half from a dispensational perspective. About halfway through I began to wonder if this was the right approach to the book, but it is all I was ever taught. Studying it for myself opened up new questions for me.
I have studied the various views but have not had enough time to really consider where I land. So I’d like to really understand Revelation better.
Comment Highlights for Week of April 3, 2011
As I mentioned in the first post in this series, I want to highlight some of the comments that have been left on my blog posts during the past week. Hopefully, this will give more visibility to some of the reasons that I love blogging – dialog and interaction.
This was the hardest “comment highlights” to put together because there were so many exceptional comments last week. Here are a few of those great comments.
I want to highlight Bobby’s comment on my post “Guest Post: How does the church respond to poverty? (from someone who’s living it).” It’s a short comment; but powerful.
You’re right, this is a powerful post. As I look forward to potential opportunities to serve I pray that God will grant me a heart to see His children as He does. Not as projects or ministries but as people made in His image.
Tim left a great comment on my post “In the NT, there is no distinction between clergy and laity.” Here is part of his comment:
I think only a complete breakdown of the American economy so we can no longer afford hired help and maintain or build the crowd oriented gathering sites, will do the job.
Swanny left this comment on my post “Why do we expect Jesus to only be with the ‘righteous’ today?“:
How can the church look at sinners differently when the church is made up of sinners?
The Bride of Christ = Sinners
Finally, Jeff left a really good comment on my post “What do you do when you can’t find fellowship with others?”
I left church for about 10 years and found it very hard to have any Christian fellowship. Even after ‘reentry’, I still found it hard to break through cliques and have any real relationships. Now, almost 10 years later, I am starting to have good fellowship again. I guess my point is that it definitely takes time. But I will say that the whole ordeal made me closer to God and focus on Him so much more.
Please take the time to read all of the other great comments this week.
Comment Highlights for Week of March 27, 2011
As I mentioned in the first post in this series, I want to highlight some of the comments that have been left on my blog posts during the past week. Hopefully, this will give more visibility to some of the reasons that I love blogging – dialog and interaction.
Once again, there were some incredible comments on my blog this week, and I’m not talking about the birthday wishes from a few days ago.
Jon (among many others) left a great comment on my post “What caused you to start studying the church?” Here’s his comment:
Church unity (or lack thereof) got me started questioning the box I’ve grown up in. I went searching for common basic beliefs across denominational lines, and tried to see past the traditions and divisions that we had created.
Since I was questioning traditions, Pagan Christianity was suggested reading. It shook that box a bit more.
Thanks Alan for sharing your wisdom. Looking at Scripture on my own too, and being encouraged by others who are working out fresh new/ancient perspectives of how God’s family can live together under His Lordship.
Another John also left this comment on that same post in reply to another commenter:
I am in complete agreement, or at least think that I am, with what you write here. This is why I remain a non-Catholic, non-Orthodox classical, confessional, catholic Christian who loves the WHOLE church while I look for the wind of God in all of them. What I do resist is the evangelical impulse to keep reinventing and offering the “pure biblical model†as if “we’ve found it now.†Reform yes, reinvent no.
Swanny left a great comment on my post “Community Ingredients: Only Jesus.” Here is part of his comment:
Jesus prayed that we would be one. He did not pray it just once or twice, but the night before He was crucified, He prayed it over and over and over again.
Of all the things Jesus could have asked the Father, He seemed rather stuck on one — the idea of being one. The idea that His followers, His people, The Church, would be known to the world by their oneness; the idea that, contrary to the ways of the world, the Church would demonstrate a new way of working together, a new way of being in the world. And this new way of being would serve the purpose of revealing God to the world. The world would see the “Allness†of God.
Throughout the letters written to the early Church that are recorded in the New Testament, there are more than 100 references to how we should live with one another. These are core tenets of being Christ-followers.
And, finally, James left this encouraging comment on my post “Which one was church?”
Good post, Alan. What’s interesting is that here in the Northwest the gatherings you describe above would be considered Church. I tend to agree with your views and conclusions; I only aim to raise a simple observation of how divergent the thinking is when it comes to ecclessiology. I grew up in the South, and attended Southeastern for a season. The Pacific Northwest is an entirely different context.
There were so many more great comments left on my blog last week. Why not take a few minutes and read through some of them?
Comment Highlights for Week of March 20, 2011
As I mentioned in the first post in this series, I want to highlight some of the comments that have been left on my blog posts during the past week. Hopefully, this will give more visibility to some of the reasons that I love blogging – dialog and interaction.
Tom left this great comment on my post “Adorn the doctrine of God“:
When we call ourselves Christians, we are saying that we are God’s children, being conformed to Christ’s image. We’re saying that our character looks something like God’s character. By implication, we’re also saying that God’s character looks something like ours!
If we call ourselves God’s children but live like the Devil’s, we are most definitely blaspheming, dragging God’s holy name through the mud, taking His name in vain (that is, to no good purpose).
For this reason I think we ought to be very careful not only of how we live, but also of who we give the name Christian to. The world takes notice when we call another person or group Christian.
Which is worse? To hurt some people’s feelings by requiring evidence before applying God’s name to them? Or to blaspheme our all-glorious Creator, Saviour, and King by always giving “the benefit of the doubt�
(The evidence being, of course, the kind of “doctrine†Paul describes in Titus 2.)
Duchessdad became a new commenter this week. This is his comment on my post “He’s found a senior pastor.” (Unfortunately, we probably all know people who demand that we call them by certain titles.):
Great discourse. I knew a pastor of a small congregation who was the only “staffer†on the payroll. He wanted to be called the “Sr. Pastorâ€. Since we had no Jr Pastor, it seemed somewhat asinine. This was all on top of being founded on the basis of “Plurality of Elder-shipâ€. When one foolishly believes it all rides on your own shoulders, then the outcome is dismal.
Jeremy left this great example of a story while commenting on my post “Narrative, Storytelling, and Discipleship:”
One day a rabbit was digging a hole. A turtle walked by and asked, “Are you digging a new home?â€
“Nope,†replied the rabbit. “Just digging a hole.â€
“Are you going to plant carrots in it?†pressed the turtle.
“Nope,†replied the rabbit. “Just digging a hole.â€
“Are you going to bury something, or hide a treasure?â€
“Nope,†replied the rabbit. “Just digging a hole.â€
Now the turtle got upset. “Why won’t you tell me what you are doing! I know that you are not just digging a hole. So tell me what you are doing.â€
The rabbit stopped digging and looked at the turtle. “I like to dig holes. It’s what God made me for. Can’t I dig a hole just for the fun of it?†And with that, the rabbit went back to digging.
The turtle shook his head, and as he walked off, muttered to himself, “Why can’t rabbit ever answer a simple question?â€
And, of course, Rick offered this comment (which also included a story) on my post “When I can’t keep up:”
God may not require more of us than we can handle, but he certainly offers us more, far more. Gluttony is not just a temptation down at the Golden Corral buffet, it faces us when we look around at all the things that we could be doing to build the kingdom. Just because God sets our table abundantly does not mean we need to eat it all—better to take sensible portions, and then concentrate on cleaning our plate.
One of my favorite anecdotes comes from an Episcopal priest who in his early 20s was faced with two very good, very important opportunities to serve, one with a local parish and one at a mission in Mexico. He had long worked with both communities, and loved them both. He saw wonderful potential in both, and key contributions he could make in both places. He agonized for months over the choice.
One day he was walking down a path, crying out to God for guidance and clarity in making the right decision: here or Mexico? Suddenly he heard God’s voice, clear as a bell, saying, “Homer, I don’t care!†He laughed, decided to lighten up, chose Mexico just because it was more exotic and likely to be fun, and then went on with his very productive life.
Comment Hightlights for Week of March 13, 2011
As I mentioned in the first post in this series, I want to highlight some of the comments that have been left on my blog posts during the past week. Hopefully, this will give more visibility to some of the reasons that I love blogging – dialog and interaction.
There were many, many good comments on my post “Children as Part of the Church Gathering.” I’ll highlight a comment from someone who usually doesn’t comment here. This is Sarah’s comment:
I come from an opposite thinking, and as a parent with young children, I insisted that there should be babysitting provided for them. (at my expense of course.) It was nearly impossible for me to concentrate while worrying that my kids were distracting others, and they certainly were distracting me! I don’t know how differently I would do things now, but I’m certainly less dogmatic about it.
Now that they are older, and want to be part of meetings, there is a new issue. Since they are 11 and 9, I find that some things are not necessarily “appropriate†for them to hear. Say someone needs to talk about the past, or talk about problems. I don’t want my children to cause brothers and sisters to “censor†their sharing. I don’t really know what to do about this. Right now, we are taking them and hoping that we will be able to discuss/explain later.
This may not be a problem in settings that are not as casual as ours.
There were also several very good comments on my follow-up post “Question about children in the church gathering.” Again, here is one of those comments from Jason:
Honestly, as a parent that is one of the biggest questions for our family as we think about migrating into simpler church.
It is truly one of the largest logistical issues for people in our stage of life. When I researched it last year I found just one meaningful article on the entire subject.
The questions I ask are:
– What do you do with them… (they can be distracting occasionally…)
– How are they discipled
– How can a simpler model of church benefit them
– Will they be incorporated into the community or become wall flowers, (or noisy wall flowers)
– and then in our case, how do you meaningfully involve kids with intellectual, developmental and behavioural differences.I sure wish someone would write a book about it!
Dan (along with many others) wrote a great comment on my post “For I have given you an example“:
It seems that Jesus had a big emphasis on discipleship through shared-life and thus teaching by his own example (his narrative so to speak) so it would make sense that Jesus would want us to follow his example which is set out in the narratives of Scripture.
A lot of times it seems the example teaches us a bigger lesson about selflessness, love, obedience, or whatever else, so the actions are not necessarily required but the heart of the actions. It seems that Jesus taught stuff along these lines in the sermon on the mount about actions and the heart from which they come from.
So, the big question for me would be, does Jesus want us to actually wash people’s feet, or to serve people in whatever ways we can?
There were great comments on all three of those posts. If you can’t read all of the comments, you should.
Comment Hightlights for Week of March 6, 2011
As I mentioned in the first post in this series, I want to highlight some of the comments that have been left on my blog posts during the past week. Hopefully, this will give more visibility to some of the reasons that I love blogging – dialog and interaction.
There were several good comments to my post “Why Obey the Commands of Scripture?” I’ll simply highlight this comment by Hutch, but if you haven’t read all the comments, then I would highly recommend it.
We obey Christ’s commands out of love for Him and as Paul says in Romans we have been empowered to do so since His love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who He has given to us allowing us to love God and neighbor thereby taking care of the other commands this is done by dying to self and walking in the Spirit, this produces the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives making us more Christlike.
But in a word=love
Norma from “my church journey” also left a very good comment on my post “Where’s my super suit?” I think many believers can relate to being “paralyzed” like Norma.
Sometimes I feel almost paralyzed. This post has been a clear answer to me to keep on being the me God made me, doing whatever little things come along to help and love on others, and let Father do with my apparently meager efforts whatever He chooses. Whew!
“Aussie” John from “caesura” left a good comment to my post “Everything of significance you will learn from experience“:
This part of the quote is profound, to say the least, “Life is a place for biblical truth to be fleshed out, regardless of our educational status or attainments. It’s lengthy, costly, messy — and just plain hard work.â€
So hard, sometimes, that the pain seems to be in the process of destroying us.
Randi from “Seeds in My Heart” left a good comment on my post “Stop the Disunity.” Here is part of her comment:
Focusing on our heart’s devotion is the solution to get away from the disunity caused by our need for others to think like we think, do how we do… when our heart is changed and fixated on our Treasure, His love will be full in us that we’ll be able to give that same freedom that unconditional love brings – to others… no matter how they think or look different than us.