i started to read back some of the notes that i had written on Facebook before i had a blog. i came across a post from July 31st, 2007 entitled “if you breathe air you should read this”. i think this post is significant because #1. i need to hear it again and say it again. #2. i find it interesting as i read these notes that God has lead me to conVerge church which lines up amazingly with a lot of the questions and thoughts that were going through my head during that season (and still drive me today).

For those of you who are LU people and have been pounded with “Utmost” too much, don’t make fun of Oswald, he’s the man! ha ha:

This is one of the best Oswald Chambers “Utmost” that I have ever read.
I have had to learn this one a few times now. I don’t think he is saying to never trust human beings, he is just encouraging us to put things in their proper place.
Oh I pray that we get this as Christians, God help me get it.

“Disillusionment means that there are no more false judgments in life. To be undeceived by disillusionment may leave us cynical and unkindly severe in our judgment of others, but the disillusionment which comes from God brings us to the place where we see men and women as they really are, and yet there is no cynicism, we have no stinging bitter things to say. Many of the cruel things in life spring from the fact that we suffer from illusions. We are not true to one another as facts; we are true only to our ideas of one another. Everything is either delightful and fine, or mean and dastardly, according to our idea.

The refusal to be disillusioned is the cause of much of the suffering in human life. It works in this way- if we love a human being and do not love God, we demand of him every perfection and every rectitude, and when we do not get it we become cruel and vindictive; we are demanding of a human being that which he or she cannot give.

There is only one Being who can satisfy the last aching abyss of the human heart, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Why our Lord is apparently so severe regarding every human relationship is because He knows that every relationship
not based on loyalty to Himself will end in disaster. Our Lord trusted no man, yet He was never suspicious, never bitter. Our Lord’s confidence in God and in what His grace could do for any man, was so perfect that He despaired of no one. If our trust is placed in human beings, we shall end in despairing of everyone.”

For those who want a clearer definition of disillusionment i found this:
freeing from false belief or illusions
. to free from or deprive of illusion, belief, idealism, etc.; disenchant.
a freeing or a being freed from illusion or conviction; disenchantment.

I watch American Idol because I am a singer and it entertains me. Wednesday night AI did an event called Idol Gives Back, it is a little cheezy but hey, anytime someone wants to give back i think its a good thing. So towards the end of the show there is a familiar song that the contestants start singing and it is no other than “Shout to the Lord” the Hillsong worship tune. Now i don’t want to be excited about this because i’m not a “i’ll take what i can get” guy. This song was written to be sung by people who are committed to Jesus as their Savior and it was written so that they could worship him through song. On the other hand if a person wants to get excited about it, go ahead, just realize this was just a song performed on a TV show, thats it.

I actually found it very odd that they would do this song but it just shows how much christian music (and worship music) has become an industry in which they realize is very marketable. It was interesting that the first night they sang it the lyrics were changed to “my shepherd, my savior”, and then the next night they sang “my Jesus, my savior”.

Was Jesus worshiped through this? Are there believers on that stage? Was anyone drawn to God because of that? What do you think?

Watch 

Four or five years ago i heard a CD with this John Piper message on it called “Boasting Only in the Cross” it was from Passion’s One Day event in TN in early 2000.

I remember this message had a profound impact on my life and really sobered me up to the reality of the cross and how it changed the course of history forever. Somehow tonight i stumbled on this message again and its amazing how powerful it still is although it is hitting me at a different place in life now. I thought that tomorrow being Easter it would be fitting to put an excerpt here:

“for the Christian, all other boasting, should also be a boasting in the cross. All exultation in anything else should be exultation in the cross. If you exult in the hope of glory you should be exulting in the cross of Christ. If you exult in tribulation because tribulation works hope, you should be exulting in the cross of Christ. If you exult in your weaknesses, or in the people of God, you should be exulting in the cross of Christ.

Why is this the case? For this reason: for redeemed sinners, every good thing - indeed every bad thing that God turns for good - was obtained for us by the cross of Christ. Apart from the death of Christ, sinners get nothing but judgment. Apart from the cross of Christ, there is only condemnation. Therefore everything that you enjoy in Christ - as a Christian, as a person who trusts Christ - is owing to the death of Christ. And all your rejoicing in all things should therefore be a rejoicing in the cross where all your blessings were purchased for you at the cost of the death of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

One of the reasons we are not as Christ-centered and cross-saturated as we should be is that we have not realized that everything - everything good and every thing bad that God turns for the good of his redeemed children was purchased by the death of Christ for us. We simply take life and breath and health and friends and everything for granted. We think it is ours by right. But the fact is that it is not ours by right.”

If you would like to hear or watch the whole thing, you can, here: “Boasting Only in the Cross”

Because i’m convinced that the church is the means God has chosen to change the world i will be devoting a short series of posts dedicated to discussing what the Church is, how it should function biblically, and why it matters. I don’t claim to be an expert but only a learner. I hope that this will encourage discussion and discovery.

One thing i think that is significant to note is that church has been going on for quite awhile and there is not much that we are going to come up with today that is going to change the basic foundation. In fact, i would say there has been much that we have come up with since then that has caused us to stray from the original format and intent.

In reading this some of us have no context other than a building, logo, program, pastor personality or worship music to compare this church to and for that i don’t necessarily think that you are to blame. It has been a challenge from the beginning for man to listen to God and do things the way that He intends. Many churches today are being lead by men who want to “change the world for Christ”. Christ is already changing the world, it is our privilege to join Him in this. I believe that God is calling us not to make choices and then ask Him to bless them but to choose Him daily and watch how He changes us and our choices and things around us.

At this point many may be thinking “but you need buildings, programs and music to accomplish this”. I agree, but we have been short sighted in thinking that is enough to reach the unchurched. I am getting off topic here. Back to origins. I’m in a seminary class that discusses where the church is at and where its going. We took some blurbs from a book called The Revolution by George Barna. In it he discusses the early church in Acts and calls the 21st century church back to that model. Here are 7 core passions of the early church:

1. Intimate Worship- this was natural, no service was needed to awaken this, they were in awe of God.

2. Faith Based Conversations- it is normal to talk about the things we love.

3. Intentional Spiritual Growth- they knew that it took conscious persevering effort. they were self-feeders.

4. Servanthood- loving others is more than a feeling, this is the best means of demonstrating the love of Jesus.

5. Resource Investment- it all belongs to God, we are simply managers.

6. Spiritual Friendships- vertical and horizontal relationships. this is true discipleship.

7. Family Faith- they taught the ways of God in their homes.

The main point behind all of this was Spiritual Transformation: any significant and lasting transition in your life wherein you switch from one substantial perspective or practice to something wholly different that genuinely alters you at a very basic level. It is seizing a new perspective or practice related to the 7 passions of the Acts 2 church and never being the same again. Transformation defines who you are at fundamental spiritual level, and your lifestyle is realigned according to that part of your being that was finally awakened to the things of God.

Have you experienced this personally? Is this how the church should look? Are you experiencing church this way currently?

This past Christmas/New Years I flew out to California to visit my family. Before every plane takes off the flight attendant always goes through the emergency plan in case something happens. Normally I don’t pay attention because I have heard it a ton already. For some reason this time I was listening. While explaining the oxygen masks and how to use them she said this, “Please secure your own mask before assisting others.”. Most people would hear those words and think, “How selfish”. If you think about it, its a wise statement, how are you going to help anyone if you can’t breathe yourself? This of course got me thinking that I need to apply this in other areas of my life as well.

I have nothing to offer anyone if do not first take time away. This is not selfish, it is preparation and if you are a Christian you are always thinking of ways that you can prepare yourself to be used by God in the lives of others. I have found personally that if I don’t spend time in the presence of God away from people that I do not have a way of building others up and pointing them towards God’s purposes. I must be saturated with His word, filled with His Spirit and confident of the mission that He has set before me.

Do I always succeed? No. Do I continually keep pursuing? Always.

One thing that I have been learning is how to listen to God, through His word, through circumstances, through silence. So when I say time away, I’m not just talking about “devotional” time or “bible study” as valuable as those are. I’m talking about quality time with Jesus, just sitting and listening to him and talking to him as we must do in any quality relationship. I don’t know about you but I don’t recall ever going out to lunch with a friend and then sitting and reading the book that they wrote while they are sitting there waiting to talk to me. I know that is a drastic comparison and I am not diminishing the effect that Scripture has on our lives, but I want to remember that it is my goal to know God more and more and to share my life with Him.

I believe that by knowing God we come to know ourselves and we also come to know others and see them as God sees them. So don’t forget to guard that time that you spend with God, you really are helping others when you help yourself to God.

I have spent a good portion of my Christian life as a Church connoisseur (for those who only speak American…a critic of churches). I have observed the style, the music,the pastor, the people, the culture that is created, etc. I have seen churches all over the country, of many denominations and many theological backgrounds.

I have to admit that for the most part my attitude was “relate to me, give me something to hold on to” and not one of a servant who wanted to further God’s Kingdom. I was wrong to have that attitude and I have since come clean with God about that. I did observe much though and it did leave an impression on me. The biggest impression was this: the local church has lost touch with the goal of God and in doing that we have become ineffective in being agents of change in people’s lives.

This brings me to my notes from class today. I am in a class called WRSP 540 Current Issues in Worship and we get to learn about some great things (really not as much about Worship as it is about the Church and our role in it).

“Spiritual transformation is any significant and lasting transition in your life wherein you switch from one substantial perspective or practice to something wholly different that genuinely alters you at a very basic level. Transformation is seizing a new perspective or practice related to the seven passions of the Acts 2 church and never being the same again. Transformation defines who you are at a fundamental spiritual level, and your lifestyle is realigned according to that part of your being that was finally awakened to the things of God.”

Wow! sounds great right? Can it really happen? I hope so. This past year I have been involved in two such opportunities, one exists to be and give leadership to things like this and the other exists to be this. Since I have experienced this, my life has been completely altered and i seek God in a different way to find out how He wants me to live out the story that He is telling.

This past Sunday night a group of us obeyed God’s call to start a transformational community here where we live called conVerge, 112 people came. I pray that God shows them that He wants so much more from them than just coming to a service. I pray that lives are changed and because of those lives being changed other lives are changed and that the cycle just keeps flowing.

More on this later….

This past year I have been awakened and am now concerned about the direction of the church in North America, don’t get me wrong the Church of Jesus is still alive and thriving .

I want to include some excerpts from a book I’m currently reading called The Present Future by Reggie McNeal (not the football player):

“90 percent of kids active in high school youth groups do not attend church by the time they are sophomores in college. One-third of these will never return. They are not leaving because they have lost faith. They contend that the church no longer contributes to their spiritual development. In fact, they say, quite the opposite is true.”

I would have to agree with him on this one, i have traveled for 7 years on ministry teams and served for 1 year in local church ministry and it’s true for the most part.

“Many churches operate like giant machines , with church leaders serving as mechanics. God doesn’t have to show up to get done what’s being done. The culture does not want the powerless God of the modern church.”

Sadly, I have seen this too much as well. So what is the solution? The wrong question to ask would be “How do we do church better?”

“Church activity is a poor substitute for genuine spiritual vitality.”

I agree with Reggie on the solution.

“We need to recapture the mission of the church. In both Old and New Testaments we encounter a God who is on a redemptive mission in the world. In fact, we are astounded at the lengths to which God will go in pursuit of his mission to redeem the crowning achievement of his creation-people.”

Is this possible? Is this what people are looking to be a part of? Is this what Jesus intended his church to look like?

Currently the resistance is under construction. Check back soon!