Would you be interested in writing a guest post for my blog?
Since I started this blog almost six years ago, I have posted several “guest blogger” posts. Usually, these posts came to me originally as emails from people who were asking me questions or telling me their stories. I would ask them if I could publish the emails as guest posts, and they usually agreed. Of course, if they didn’t agree, then I wouldn’t publish the emails/posts.
Last year, I began to ask people to write guest posts for my blog. I was extremely happy with the posts that people sent me. They were from different people in different contexts with different backgrounds. And, each guest blogger wrote from different perspectives. While I did not agree with everything that was written, I certainly learned from each one.
I would like to continue publishing guest posts. Several people are writing guest posts for me now. But, I would like to make a wider appeal.
Would you be interested in writing a guest post for my blog?
I only have a couple of requests: 1) The post should be related to the church. 2) The post should be less than 1000 words, or it should be divided into multiple posts.
If you would like to write a blog post post for my blog, leave a comment and/or send me an email at aknox[at]sebts[dot]edu.
Also, if you’ve written a guest post for me before, I’d love to hear about the experience, both working with me and interacting with my blog readers. Again, you can leave a comment and/or send me an email.
Guest Blogger: Simple Church (TM)
Last year, I invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(While I may continue to invite people to write guest posts, I would be willing to publish *almost* any post related to the church. If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
Today’s post was written by Joe (JR) Miller. J.R. Miller is a former church planter and now professor living in San Diego, California with his wife and three sons. He is an author and avid blogger. You can reach him at either www.MoreThanCake.org or www.EmergingLife.org.
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“Simple Church ™”
Inspired by my friend Alan’s post “Just Make Disciples ™“, I am convinced that church is meant to be simple. All the institutional stuff has really hurt our Faith. Here is my new motto:
Church–So Simple That Anyone Who Follows Me Can Do It!
Why do we hold men above Christ?
Seminary trained pastors set themselves up as experts by writing books that teach us all kind of pagan things about leadership and community when all we truly need is the Bible. I am so convinced that the Bible is ALL we need, that I am commissioning a team of writers with no seminary training and who have never lead anything to write a book that everyone should read. This team of experts (with names you are sure to recognize) well give everyone all they need to know about how not to be a leader and how to avoid training so you can start a Simple Church. Oh, and we will have a magazine too!!
Why do we need all those conferences for “professional” clergy?
Those conferences are corrupting the church and taking away the priesthood of all believers. To counter this spiritual-tragedy, I would like to invite everyone to a new conference starting next year. The conference will be titled, “No More Conferences“. We will feature worship bands (unprofessionally led of course) and lecturers who will teach us how sermons are bad because they feature just one guy talking with everyone in chairs facing forward. Our conference will be held in a theatre where everyone will have nice chairs facing the stage so they can enjoy our featured experts. Come to the conference and you will get trained by our totally uneducated and fully untrained experts on how to be a Simple Church leader.
Why do we make paid preaching/teaching the center of our faith?
I think it is terrible that we listen to sermons and download them and sell them when the Gospel should be free. If you want to learn more, check back tomorrow and I will have a recorded talk you can download for a small fee or you can always order the CD. The Apostle Paul never sold his letters to the church and next year I will also have a new copyrighted book out on Amazon that will tell you all about it for just $9.99. These teachings will explain how we are destroying the church by trusting preachers who sell stuff all the time. (BTW, since I am not a paid preacher, I am allowed by the New Testament to sell this stuff… besides, my motives are pure unlike those other guys.)
Why have we made it so difficult to be the Spirit-led Church?
Men have put themselves out as leaders and make us think that unless we read what they write, we cannot be a valid church. That is just not how God works. So I am announcing the launch of a new blog that will feature all my books and all my recorded messages from conferences and weekly posts. My site will teach you how not to follow after the teachings of men. Trust only the Holy Spirit and follow me.
Why do we follow denominations?
Simple church will be all about rejecting denominations and seeing everyone as our brother and sister in Christ. To help you figure out which churches are truly simple, and not heretical like those institutional ones, we will set up a network of Simple Churches. We will have memberships and everything and promote our approved network of churches from our website.
Why do we meet in big buildings?
Anyone who reads the New Testament, or church history, knows that aside from meeting in public buildings or in Synagogues or caves, the church only ever met in homes. If your church is meeting anywhere but a house, you are corrupting God’s simple church because the house is God’s designated place for church meetings. A house is the only place that does not restrict the moving of the Spirit and A house is the only place where people won’t get corrupted by all the bad stuff. (You will learn more about this at next years’ big conference)
Church is Simple and anyone can do it!! So keep reading. listening, conferencing, networking, meeting in homes and downloading my stuff and I will teach you all the things you need to know about how to keep church simple and avoid the institution.
Oh, and don’t forget, if you don’t read all my stuff and listen to all my messages and go to my conferences, you will never know what stuff is forbidden by the New Testament and you will never be free from all the institutional stuff that holds you back.
Guest Blogger: What is Authentic Church Experience?
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
Today’s post was written by Robert. You can follow Robert at his blog “A Bally Mennonite Blogger” or on Twitter (@tristaanogre).
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My first attempt at defining an Authentic church experience was 1100+ words long. This is not too surprising, actually. I mean, we’re talking about something that is the body of Christ and all that goes along with it. How many thousands of words are in the New Testament of the Bible that attempt to describe who Christ is and what the community of faith looks like? And I’m trying to squeeze it into just a couple of hundred words. Let me see if I can sum up.
First of all, what church is not: it is not a business, an institution, an organization, a formalized religion, or anything like this. Now, there are times when a church needs to do stuff like one of these other things, but church is not that. As I said above, church is the body of Christ and this means that there are three characteristics that are part of the church.
1. Not Native – Jesus was/is God come down here to this little ball of rock, water, and dirt. He was extraterrestrial, alien, weird, bizarre, strange, and deviant. What this world is, Jesus is not. He stands out as different in the way he does things, the kinds of words he uses, and the way, generally he understands life. As the body of Christ, this is also what the church is supposed to be. We are to think, act, talk, and do things radically different than anything that seems “natural” to humans. When it comes to the rest of the world, to borrow a phrase from one of my favorite songs, we’re “Jesus Freaks”.
2. Native – “Now hold on,” you say. “Didn’t you just get done saying how Jesus is NOT native?” Yeah, I did. But that’s the really cool thing about Jesus. He isn’t native to this world and he spent a lot of time showing people this strange, weird, bizarre way of looking at and doing things that is completely out of this world. But in order to show people that it is possible for them to do it, too, he needed to become one of them. He became like people, experiencing everything they experienced, and showed that, in spite of all the stupidity that is our world, it is possible to do things differently and, in fact, it’s actually BETTER to be that way. And he proved it, even to the point of dying and coming back to life. “See?” he says. “You can be weird and look at the amazing stuff that happens when you are.” As the body of Christ, the church is called to be native as well. There will be laughter and tears, births and deaths, joy and pain, and all the messiness that comes from being human beings. Like Christ, we need to be incarnations of that holy other. We need to be show that there is flesh there, too, and that we are this weird blending of this “other” way and human beings. This means that there will be people with purple hair and piercings and people with head-coverings and plain clothes. There will be all manner of different interests, perceptions, and preferences all mixed together in a chaotic mess. And that’s a GOOD thing because it means we are actually native enough that, in the midst of our mess, we act weird… you know, like loving each other in our disagreements when everyone else says we should split… and that weirdness gets the attention of the world around us so they say, “Wait a minute. What’s going on here?”
3. Sent – All this Native/Non-Native stuff means nothing if we keep it to ourselves. Lock it up in a church building on Sunday morning, make it only visible for a couple of hours in an obscure location, and don’t let on that you exist, and no one will ever know. Again, look at Jesus. He could have stuck around the temple in Jerusalem and expected folks to come to him. But people didn’t really pay attention to him because he was some holy guy up on a hill somewhere. They sat up and paid attention because he ate with them, sat with them, cried with them, laughed with them, walked with them, and talked with them. Now, Jesus did go off on his own on occasion to pray and commune with God. He needed time to re-center himself, to reconnect with God so he didn’t lose track. But the real work was done when he was sitting at a well, walking down a street, going through the city gates, etc. The church, as the body of Christ, should take note of this. We do a pretty good job of getting together regularly to focus on God and on who he is and what he has in mind for us. But we’re pretty lousy, generally, about getting out there and doing the real work. There are folks who do stuff, but think about how much energy, money, time, and resource is spent on a few hours of one morning on one day of the week. What if we spent the same amount of resource, proportionally, on the other 6 and a half days of the week? Think about it. As the body, we’re not supposed to be stuck behind walls. What were Jesus last words? “Go, into all the world.”
So, what is the authentic church experience? It is a bunch of weirdos and freaks who break every mold of the world but are still very much human. And this bizarre bunch of people interact daily, moment by moment, with that world, as an intimate demonstration that life can be different, that what we experience is not all there is, and that there is something better in store.
Guest Blogger: Focus on delivery does not increase our effectiveness at discipling people
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
Today’s post was written to me as an email by Chris. You can follow Chris at his website or on Twitter (@ChrisBranscome).
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[From Alan: In a comment, Chris indicated that he was in “professional ministry” but was considering leaving that profession. In an email, I told him that I would like to hear more about his reasons and struggles. The following is his response, which he graciously allowed me to post here for my readers.]
I think the thing that’s driving me away is that we continue to hold to the idea that if we have better programming, slicker lighting and media, better bands, and cooler facilities, then we’ll be able to do a better job of making disciples. We’ve seen again and again that this focus on the delivery and production of our message doesn’t increase our effectiveness in transforming people.
We work hard to put together friendly events like Fall Festivals and I hear people say things like “if we can just get them on the campus…” While I think it’s nice to do things for the community, I don’t think that if a non-Christian just steps foot on campus, they’ll suddenly meet God in a way that they can’t off campus. I think there’s also the idea that if people come to our worship event, they’ll be ministered to by “professional” ministers, and that this is more effective.
We continue to inadvertently teach, through our methodology, that 1) God is most present here at the Church building, 2) God is MORE present when our productions are better planned, polished, and executed, 3) You’re being most Christian when you attend an event on a church campus, and 4) “real” ministry is carried out by the full time church employees.
Because we believe that the organization and its few leaders carry out the most effective ministry at the organization’s events, there’s a focus on bringing people in rather than on equipping people and sending them out. Evangelism has come to mean “inviting people to a worship gathering.”
We continue to do all of these things in spite of the fact that we KNOW that what we’re doing isn’t creating many new believers or turning believers into more Christlike people.
I know there are exceptions, and I also fully acknowledge that I am where I am today, spiritually speaking, at least in part because of the fact that I grew up in a pretty normal church organization. I think the organization definitely has its place, and that it will continue to be effective for a (shrinking) number of people.
So, personally speaking, I don’t like that working for this kind of organization means that I spend 90% or more of my working hours inside of the walls of a church building, planning and executing things that will take place in the building – things which will only impact (and that’s questionable) people who come to the building. I work within this very different Christian culture, isolated from the rest of the world, the world which we are called to reach.
I hope I don’t sound too cynical or critical. I’m actually coming out of a year and a half period of serious burnout, bad enough that it gave me an ulcer. I was really, really busy with very inwardly focused things, getting ready to launch a new building campaign, etc. My attitude during that time was pretty bad, but with God’s help, things are better. My current strategy is to see if I can find gainful employment outside of the church, but in the mean time, to continue to work as well as I can and focus as much as possible on things that are more effective at making disciples and reaching people outside of the church.
If you know of anyone who needs someone to create some music for them, or do some graphic design or video editing, especially if it’s full time, please let me know! 😉
Guest Blogger: The Faithfulness and Love of God to Us and to His Church
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
Today’s post was written by Mark Hanson, who has founded a ministry, Sheepfold Ministries, concerned with preparing the Church for increasing opposition and resisting the inroads of wickedness in governmental systems. He writes at the Rabel WebPaper as part of the work of Rabel Christian Civil Liberties.”
(Links: http://www.sheepfoldministries.org.uk, http://www.webpaper.rabel.org.uk. and http://www.rabel.org.uk)
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The Faithfulness and Love of God to Us and to His Church
In the first part of this two part series I covered the Sovereignty of God, both as it relates to us as individuals and to the Church. I made the case that God is ultimately in control and is, indeed, the Sovereign Lord (Habakkuk 3:19).
In this second part, I want to focus on two of God’s other vital characteristics: His faithfulness and His love.
Jesus was very clear that He would not allow anything to defeat His Church. Whatever we as a Church may go through, whatever trials we may face, even what can appear as an existential threat to the Church, cannot in fact bring about the demise of the Church. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus says that His Church is built upon a rock, a sure and firm foundation. Although using Peter’s name to refer to the rock, and although the birth of the Church did come about through the preaching of Peter upon Pentecost, this reference by Christ to the Rock also inferred that the firmness of the Church is sure and that Christ Himself preserves her. Jesus declared that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Matthew Henry (1662 – 1714), the great commentator on the Bible, puts it that: “Christ promises to preserve and secure His Church.”
Jesus did not say that we, or the Church, should have it easy. He is clear that the battle is one that is fierce and intense, even stating in Matthew 11:12 that “the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence.” We will face great trial. My belief is that the Church will remain present in the world through the Great Tribulation: it cannot be wiped from the world whilst this age remains. But Christ is faithful, and even in the midst of the intense trial of that period, Christ has promised us, and His Church, that “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20).
Peter wrote his first epistle to the elect as a time was approaching that is now known as the “little tribulation”, a time when the Church faced the severe and intense persecution from the Roman Emperor Nero, and has come to be regarded by some as the model of the Great Tribulation because many of the foretold signs of the end of the age were manifested in a partial way during that time.
In Peter’s letter he writes: “You, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:5.) Peter reassured the elect that whatever they were about to go through, God’s power kept them, God would remain faithful to them, and that God would not allow His Church to be destroyed.
Jesus loves the Church, and He will remain totally committed to His Church. As we look again at the messages to the churches in Asia contained in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, we can see not only Christ’s sovereignty over the churches, but also His great love for them. He shows this love in the midst of giving what some may consider harsh warnings: He does not simply state what those churches and some individuals are doing wrong, but provides an admonition and exhortation to repent and overcome. They are encouragements in order that the harm may not come but instead the churches may grow in their communion with Christ.
To conclude, God loves us as individuals and as His Body. Christ’s Church is His Temple, and His love for her is “the love of Christ which passes knowledge.” God has the authority and power to preserve, keep and even bless the Church, and us as individuals, whatever the circumstances, even during times of great hardship, trouble and persecution. In the present uncertainties in the world, only true believers and the true Church can know the “peace which passeth understanding.”
Look to Christ! The Rock of Ages!
Guest Blogger: The Sovereignty of God Over Us and His Church
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
Today’s post was written by Mark Hanson, who has founded a ministry, Sheepfold Ministries, concerned with preparing the Church for increasing opposition and resisting the inroads of wickedness in governmental systems. He writes at the Rabel WebPaper as part of the work of Rabel Christian Civil Liberties.”
(Links: http://www.sheepfoldministries.org.uk, http://www.webpaper.rabel.org.uk. and http://www.rabel.org.uk)
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The Sovereignty of God Over Us and His Church
When asked by Alan to do a guest post for his blog, I spent some time thinking what I could possibly write about to appear on a blog by a PhD student. Yet due to my particular ministry area I felt it important to write this particular post and the next one on the Sovereignty, Faithfulness and Love of God to Us and to His Church.
My ministry concerns itself with developments in the world where sorrows are increasing, and I believe that persecution of Christian believers is coming in a severe way to those nations where we are not used to such violent opposition.
In such light there is a real need to comfort Christians, as it is too easy a temptation to fall into fear and worry about tomorrow and not focus on Jesus. Therefore we as believers have a real need to be encouraged as to both God’s Sovereignty, and His love.
In this post, I cover the Sovereignty aspect: God is in control.
I cannot answer the question as to the why God allows suffering. As an old English proverb goes: “Ours is not to reason why, ours is just to do and die.” Yet what I do know that is God is able to use suffering and turn it around in the pursuit of goodness. And I do know that Scripture gives many examples of God’s Sovereignty, His omnipotence: He is the Almighty, the Sovereign Lord.
Jesus called the devil “the god of this world”. Yet we are assured that there is no other God but One, and in Job 1:6-12 we can see that, even though the devil is permitted to perform evil, he cannot act without the permission of God, and that God sets stringent limits on the devil’s power. Although creation is under a curse because of the fall, God remains the Lord over all creation (Job 38).
Jesus’ ministry is to restore all things to Himself. Because Jesus died and rose again He is Lord of both the living and the dead (Romans 14:9). He has purchased all creation to become reconciled to Himself and He has an especial authority over we Christians and over His Church. (I am not making comment as to the eternal destiny of those who refuse Christ, merely stating the encompassing grace that marks Jesus’ ministry.)
God is more than able to take what is evil and turn it to good. Remember Paul’s words to the Romans: “And all things work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose.” (Rom 8:28).
As pertaining to the Church, we can see in Scripture that Christ is the Head over her in all things (Eph 1:22-33) and that His power is supreme (Eph 1:15-23).
Revelation, which is perhaps one of the most misunderstood of all Biblical texts, has as its primary message the demonstration that God is ultimately in full control (Revelation, Chapters 4-6). Yes, parts of Revelation may deal with past events, future events and the doctrines of eschatology, yet taken as a whole it shows that God is all-powerful and has a good grasp on the steering wheel. Even in the midst of immense evil and intense persecution, Christians through the ages have taken great comfort from the book of Revelation. Indeed, the Revelation prophecy was given initially to persecuted believers. It therefore fulfills its own statement about itself given in Rev 1:3, that those who keep the words of the prophecy will be blessed.
In regard to the Church, we can trust God with the Church just as much as we can trust God in our own individual lives. The blessings of His Sovereignty can be enjoyed by us as individuals, but they are also to be enjoyed by the Body of Christ as a whole. (I speak not of blessings as the World would understand blessing: popularity, wealth and constant care-free indulgence; but blessings that will have an eternal reward but may be painful at times in this present age.)
Christ demonstrates both His Sovereignty over the Church, and His love to the Church in the seven messages He dictates to the Apostle John in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. I shall let you read these in your own copy of the Bible, but we can see in these prophetic letters that Christ does have the power to expel individual members and even whole congregations from the Universal Church. No, I do not believe that if one is truly a saint, chosen by God, that salvation can be lost. At times, however, excommunication can occur (such as when Paul advised the church in Corinth to excommunicate the member engaged in sexual immorality), yet we can see Christ’s love for His people and His Church in that He gives the chastised believers and churches the required response to the chastisement, and ends each letter with the comforting and exhorting promise that “whoever overcomes will be rewarded”.
To sum up this first post, we need never fear that God will somehow run out of resources, that His dominion does not reach to this or to that extent. God is Almighty; the Lord is the Sovereign Lord. Even in the midst of church wrangling, even as error tries to creep in and, yes, even in church splits and even in fiery persecution, God, ultimately, is in full control. He has a firm grip on the steering wheel.
Guest Blogger: Let’s go to the show!
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
Today’s post was written by John (as was yesterday’s post). You can connect with John on Facebook or email him at jnotestein [at] aol [dot] com.
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Let’s go to the show!
I went out early this morning to grab a cup of my favorite latte, catch up on my newspaper reading and then hit the library to check out a few new books. Then I met my wife for lunch at the nearby café before hitting the gym for a good workout and a quick pilates class. Then I met my wife for a quick dinner and movie, followed by an awesome concert by a kickin’ band. And I did all of this in the confines of a local church.
Well, not really, but you get the idea. As a Christian these days, we can live the Amish life without the dark clothes and hats. We can easily live our lives outside of work wrapped in the comfortable cocoon of Christian community. So what of it, you say?
Christian community is very important to me. I see no other way to grow in my faith than to live my life in community with other believers. But what do we do with that faith?
But I’m getting ahead of myself. First of all, I first started attending church 9 months before I was born. I have always been in SBC affiliated churches, and went through every children, youth, and adult program that came down the pike (I still have Sunbeam songs in my head, so you can kinda tell my age group). I have sat through the spring/fall revival services and have lots of gold stars on old VBS certificates. I was even there in our old country church the day the organ arrived (what was wrong with the piano?) and a few folks thought this was the pathway to liberal mainline decline.
What a difference a few decades make. These days you might be hard pressed to find an organ (it’s over behind the drum kit). Now, if you think this post is about worship styles, you’re wrong. I have seen the extremes in styles, at least in the SBC world, and have never failed to worship our God and Savior because of the type of music. No, this post is about something that is a little more subtle: who are we really worshiping?
Well, God, of course, I can hear you say. But sometimes I feel as if I’m at an American Idol audition rather than a worship service. I don’t have to participate; I just have to listen as part of the audience. And for you younger guys, it’s not the music. I have attended my youngest daughter’s church many times and their music stands above just about anything I hear that is called contemporary worship music. The difference is: I’m singing along with them. I’m praising my Lord. I am actively worshiping. I’m not sitting in a Branson show.
Anyway, that’s not really what I wanted to talk about anyway (it’s my lead in). Where and how do we truly worship God? I contend that I worship more at times when I sit in the coffee shop with my Christian brothers and sisters, or hand out meals at the City Union Mission, or work with my non believing coworkers and neighbors. As Christians, we are all living our faith daily. As we engage with God’s world, we are testimonies to our faith. I am not saved to wait and sit in the bus station waiting for the 4:55 to Heaven. God is not part of my life for several hours on a Sunday morning. He owns me. I was bought at a price. Everything I do reflects His mercy to me. And not just towards me. Everyone and everything I come in contact with. I am a tool in the Master’s hands. If you think like that, you can’t help but worship. All of life is worshiping the Creator.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV)
The same things I tell my kids I need to repeatedly tell myself. It’s not about me. It’s about my God and Savior.
Guest Blogger: Why bother with the church?
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
Today’s post was written by John. You can connect with John on Facebook or email him at jnotestein [at] aol [dot] com.
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Why bother with the church?
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that, I could gladly report that I am writing this from my beach house in the Bahamas. I hear it from non believers (which I expect), people who have dropped out of church, and even those I worship with on Sunday mornings. The reasons are many, such as the music’s too loud, the music’s too soft, it’s boring, the people are out of touch with life today, all I see are hypocrites there, I need my sleep, I want to catch the pre game show, etc. I’ve even used a few of these excuses and others in my day. But then I asked myself why do we even gather together in the first place?
I grew up eons ago, when families ate dinner together. I didn’t always want to do that either, but I never had a choice. But I can tell you, it helped shape what I think about my family now. My father has been gone for 16 years now, but I can still see him sitting at the head of the table, telling stories or asking us what we were up to (like I was really going to tell him). The point is this: I was a part of something bigger than myself, whether I felt like it or not. The same was true of church. The younger folks may not believe this, but we didn’t always have Children’s Church. Instead, we had to sit in the worship service and be bored to tears. I was busy filling in every ‘O’ and ‘0’ I could find in the bulletin. I learned that if I held my Bible open and rested my head on my Mother’s shoulder, I could sometimes catch a quick nap. When Einstein said the time was relative, I feel he was talking about how a one hour church service could feel like days. But today, I can still recall being there, with lots of old people (probably in the 20’s and higher), from different walks of life and economic backgrounds, all singing ‘old school’ hymns from the Broadman Baptist Hymnal. It wasn’t necessarily what we were doing, but who we were doing it with and who we were doing it for: God.
As I go to worship now, those same thoughts go through my head. If we did everything I wanted to do in church, it would probably be a church of one. But it’s not about me. I know that’s hard to believe for some. We all have needs and we want the church, God, the pastor, or someone to recognize that and take care of them. But at the same time, we don’t want to get to close to anyone (they might want me to actually perform some act of service or something). So how can I get to know other people without spending time with them? The answer is that you can’t.
And you can’t share your life with someone if you not willing to spend time with them. Whether it’s your family, your friends, or fellow believers, it’s all the same. You have to invest yourself into their lives, and that means spending time and energy. Many in our culture today worship the individual, treasure time with themselves, and are busy grabbing all they can from life before someone else gets it. From my experience, Christians are not a lot different sometimes. We are to live in the world but not be a part of the world, but that’s hard to do sometimes. The only way I know of to live that way is to spend time in the Word, time listening and talking to God through prayer, and being around fellow believers. And you can’t do that in one or two hours on a Sunday morning. We need to share our lives with each other. In the coffee shop, on the golf course, in our backyards, and in our homes. As Paul says in Romans:
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:1-6 ESV)
We worship God in our homes, with our friends, alone on the back porch, and yes, even in church. As much as our sinful selves tries to convince us, it’s not all about us. It’s about Him. And He told us to go make disciples, and we can even do that in church. After all, it is the Bride of Jesus.
Guest Blogger: The Keys of the Kingdom and Binding and Loosing
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
Today’s post was written by Jan Willem van Borselen. You can contact Jan via email at WhatsInScripture [at] gmail [dot] com.
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I enjoyed what Alan wrote about authority in the church. About two years ago I reached the same conclusion that the fact that Paul directed most of his letters at the churches and not at specific leaders, is very telling about how he viewed where authority in the church was placed: not with the “leadership” but within the community as a whole.
I also made, for me, a startling discovery that Jesus was addressing this in his teaching on the matter of binding and loosing. Having a charismatic background I heard a lot of teaching that didn’t do justice to what Jesus was really saying here.
In the Jewish Encyclopedia I found the following:
Binding and loosing
Rabbinical term for “forbidding and permitting”… The power of binding and loosing was always claimed by the Pharisees. Under Queen Alexandra, the Pharisees, says Josephus, “became the administrators of all public affairs so as to be empowered to banish and readmit whom they pleased, as well as to loose and to bind.” This does not mean that, as the learned men, they merely decided what, according to the Law, was forbidden or allowed, but that they possessed and exercised the power of tying or untying a thing by the spell of their divine authority, just as they could, by the power vested in them, pronounce and revoke an anathema upon a person.This power and authority, vested in the rabbinical body of each age or in the Sanhedrin, received its ratification and final sanction from the celestial court of justice.
The terms were in those days apparently closely associate with leaders exercising authority over other people, and not, as I was taught, with exercising authority over demons or situations.
Keeping this in mind while reading the following passage:
If your brother wrongs you, go and show him his fault, between you and him privately. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. But if he does not listen, take along with you one or two others, so that every word may be confirmed and upheld by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he pays no attention to them [refusing to listen and obey], tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a pagan and a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you forbid and declare to be improper and unlawful on earth must be what is already forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit and declare proper and lawful on earth must be what is already permitted in heaven. Again I tell you, if two of you on earth agree (harmonize together, make a symphony together) about whatever [anything and everything] they may ask, it will come to pass and be done for them by My Father in heaven. For wherever two or three are gathered (drawn together as My followers) in (into) My name, there I AM in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:15-20)
It stands out that Jesus turned this concept, as described by Josephus, completely upside down: The authority to make decisions no longer was placed in the hands of the leadership but among the common people meeting even in groups as small of two or three, experiencing the fellowship with the one who has all authority. Likewise, dealing with a sinner was no longer the responsibility of leaders but in the first place the responsibility of brothers around him or her. The final decision to expel someone was to be done by the whole assembly and not by a leader or the leadership. We can see that Paul followed this same principle when he wrote:
So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 5:4-5)
And…
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:12-13)
He addressed the assembly as a whole and not a specific leader.
In this teaching about binding and loosing Jesus completely leaves out the role of leaders even though this was exactly what was considered an important part of their role. For the people who have been raised in a society that was to a high degree controlled by the Sanhedrin, this must have been a shocking statement. For the leaders this must have been a severe threat to their position.
Maybe you already knew this but for me it was new and never heard it explained in this way.
God bless!
Jan Willem van Borselen
Guest Blogger: Sunday Morning Sucker Punch
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
Today’s post was written by Blake Sorensen.
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SUNDAY MORNING SUCKER PUNCH
It was a Sunday morning like any other. Sunshine blazing down out of the hot summer sky. My wife in her favorite jeans. Her hair in a ponytail. My two girls in the back seat were playing pretend with their stuffed animals. None of us had any idea what was about to come.
Dropped off the girls in the Kid Zone. Grabbed a cup of the designer coffee in the foyer and split a chocolate donut with my wife as the worship band was winding down. We slipped into our favorite row of seats near the middle and the pastor stepped up to microphone. The thunder began to rumble.
He clears his throat. Makes a lame joke about the worship band. Then he drops the bomb.
“God is doing a new thing with our church,” he says. Another conference? No. It’s worse.
“Next Sunday our congregation will become part of Hope Christian Church,” he says. I stop sipping my coffee.
Apparently, there are things that our church “has always wanted to do” but didn’t. Or couldn’t for some reason. Now, somehow, we have a chance to “be the church we were always wanting to be” – by merging with some other church I’ve barely heard of before.
So, that’s it? Our church history, our identity, our vision, our relationships, are just gone? Over?
Yes. It’s over. No vote. No warning. Just, “Thanks for investing your lives here. Now you’re all joining this other Church where I will now be on staff as their Associate Pastor. See you next week at that other place. Maps are in your bulletin. We know you’re gonna love it.”
But I don’t. I don’t love it. I hate it. I really, really hate this.
What if I don’t want to join that other church? What if some of us here want to stay together and continue to fellowship without you, pastor? Can we do that? Is that even an option?
Not in America. See, church in America is largely a franchise. It’s a business. And like most businesses in America today, things are not looking so good. The economy is still in free fall. There are still millions of hard working Americans who are hardly working – and working hard to find a job to put food on the table.
Because of these factors, the Church business is suffering. Less people are going to church on Sunday – and not because of anything to do with the economy, but essentially because the Church has become known more for what she opposes (gay marriage, abortion, increased taxes), and less for what she is in favor of (love, forgiveness, grace).
So, because less people are coming to the Church performance every Sunday morning, the offering plates are beginning to get lighter. This means it’s harder than ever to make payroll. Lesser pastors and staff get the boot first. Eventually, the church is left with just a lone senior pastor, a handful of unpaid volunteers, and a big, empty building which needs to be paid for. Of course, utilities, maintenance, security – these things cost money, and if your Church business isn’t bringing in the people, you’re probably not going to make your bill payments regularly.
What’s a business to do? Merge!
Now, any good business major will tell you that, in a merger, there’s a winner and a loser. One business loses all its identity as it becomes absorbed into the larger business. It’s how things work.
That same business major will also tell you that anytime a merger takes place it’s because both businesses are in financial stress. The larger business needs to quickly and artificially stimulate their talent pool and raise inventory. The weaker business needs someone to rescue them because they’re in over their heads and they need someone bigger and smarter to take the wheel.
Apparently our church was one of the weaker ones. We lost our identity. Like it or not, our church is dead and we must now warm the seats over at Hope Christian Church. At least until they end up merging with First Baptist down the street a few years from now.
I’ve started to notice lately that a lot of local churches have decided to merge with other churches to stay in business. A co-worker’s church is merging with another church too. At least his church is keeping their name, and their senior pastor. They’re even getting a new building out of the deal. No more leasing for them.
You know what really irks me, though? It’s that this business decision is twisted around as some kind of Divine revelation. My friend’s pastor told everyone that “God is leading us to join with this ‘Other Church’ because together we can do so much more!” Which is, of course, a flat out lie. The actual truth is that these pastors would never in a million years consider merging with another church if their bank accounts were bursting. No, the main reason these churches would ever even consider a merger in the first place is because the only other choice is to close their doors and go out of business.
What truly angers me most is how these pastors spin the story to their congregations. This is pure, unapologetic salesmanship, plain and simple. When they say to their flock, “God revealed to us that our two churches needed to come together to accomplish something wonderful in this city!” What they really mean is, “I was praying about whether to leave to find another, larger church to hire me, and then I met this other pastor who said he would not only hire me, but he’d love to take our dwindling members and double the size of his church overnight!”
The spin is: “This is a sudden, miraculous move of God!” and the truth is: “This is the only way I could keep my job!” and it frankly makes me a little sick.
I mean, aren’t pastors supposed to put the needs of the sheep over their own? Would it have been the end of the world for our pastor to get another job like the rest of us? Couldn’t he serve here as a volunteer? Are we only a real Church if he’s getting paid to preach every week?
I write this article out of frustration, and also out of sincere disgust. It really saddens me to see pastors more concerned for their paycheck than they are for the people at their church. So, when your pastor stands up on Sunday morning and without warning spins a story that essentially boils down to this: “The church you love is shutting down. You will now need to start attending this other church you never heard of before where I will now be on staff,” you’ll know that it was a great idea for your pastor and an “ok” idea for everyone else.
Maybe that’s how traditional churches will eventually disappear? One by one they will all be forced to merge together as they shrink down smaller and smaller. Eventually all the traditional churches in your town will be just one big church made up of former Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Charismatics, Baptists, and Non-denominational church members.
Actually, that sounds like a wonderful church, doesn’t it?
Maybe this really is a blessing in disguise?
-Blake Sorenson