More Thoughts on the Kingdom

From Greg Boyd... "The power of the Kingdom of God to attract and transform people lies in its beautiful, humble uniqueness. In a violent world filled with people vying for Ceasar-like power over others, the Kingdom offers people the peacemaking beauty of Christlike power under people.... Kingdom people are called out of the world to be a holy, separate people. We're called to be nonconformists, resisting the "pattern of the world" as we're transformed into the image of Christ."

More thoughts on the Kingdom...

From "The Myth of a Christian Religion" by Greg Boyd... "The difference between the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of the world comes down o the kind of power they trust. The kingdoms of the world place their trust in whatever coercive power they can exercise over others. We can think of this kind of power as the power of the sword. In contrast, the Kingdom of God refuses to use coercive power over people, choosing instead to rely exclusively on whatever power it can exercise under people. This is the transforming power of humble, self-sacrificial, Christlike love. Exercising power under others is about impacting people's lives by serving them, sacrificing for them, and even being sacrificed by them while refusing to retaliate, as Jesus did. We can think of this kind of power as the power of the cross."

The Kingdom of God

Preparing for a series on the Kingdom of God -- for after Easter. Read this today, "The Kingdom of God displays the beautiful character and behavior of the One who first embodied it. It always looks like Jesus - loving, serving, and sacrificing himself for all people, including his enemies. To the extent that any individual, church, or movement looks like that, it manifests the Kingdom of God. To the extent that it doesn't look like that, it doesn't. It's that simple." (From The Myth of a Christian Religion: Losing your religion for the beauty of a revolution. by Greg Boyd.)

Which Narrative?

Narratives form who we are and how we live. There are all kinds of narratives at work in our world. Even in the lives of those of us who call ourselves Christian. Some of those Christian narratives are based on poor theology or bad interpretation of Scripture. And from my vantage point I see lots of harm this is doing to the witness of Christ we have in the world. The reality is that people in the world are drawn to Christ but don't like the church! And that reality is keeping people from coming to Christ because they don't want to be part of a church like that! In some ways you could say we have copied the copy too many times. (You know what happens when you copy a copy and then copy that copy and so on... the quality of the copy gets worse and worse!) It is time to get back to the original.

So, a great way to do that is... by asking a question of the narratives that we live out. The question..."Is this understanding of God consistent with the God Jesus revealed?" That will force us to investigate. To read the Bible ourselves and notice for ourselves the God Jesus reveals.

Our witness would be so much stronger if we would all learn to do that!

The Fruit of the Spirit...

From the book, The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith..."We cannot grit our teeth and become patient. We cannot muster our willpower and become kind. We cannot stress and strain our way to generosity. This "fruit" is the work of the Holy Spirit. Like the fruit on a tree, it is developed naturally from the inside to the outside.

When the Spirit has changed our narratives sufficiently, we begin to think differently. As a result we begin to believe in and trust a good and loving God who is strong and powerful. We begin to see how Jesus lived a perfect life that we cannot live and offered that life to the Father on our behalf, setting us free from having to earn God's love and favor. And as we engage in soul training exercises - especially in the context of community - our confidence that God is at work in and among us increases. This creates an inward change that manifests itself in outward behavior."

Exciting....

Walked into the coffee shop yesterday to put the finishing touches on my sermon for last night's revival service at my home church and was delighted to see a group of women having a Bible Study. Upon further examination... they were mostly from Community of Joy! That was so exciting to see!

Absolutely love to see people living out their faith in public! Way to go ladies!

What's after the stirring?

I've been stirring the pot a bit in this sermon series "Engagement: Bringing Together God's Supply and Human Need." on the what and how of church. Not because I like stirring the pot, but because I feel compelled by the Spirit of the Lord to do so. This year I turn 45 and am at mid-life... so, evaluating what I have done with my life that has eternal and present implications. As a pastor of a church, I know I will answer to the Lord one day on what I did with that leadership role, thus the stirring...

But what happens after the stirring? Are there next steps? How do we keep it from just being a stirring and move on? Been praying on those questions for a while now and feel led to offer an option...

I have now read twice the book "Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community: The Posture and Practices of Ancient Church Now" by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay. In fact, in recent weeks, I have blogged many times about it. And I have invited the area one pastors of our district in the Church of the Brethren to study it with me. Now I want to offer to lead a book study group at Community of Joy with this book.

For me, next steps are important but having lived most of my life inside a certain box of church, I am not really sure how to break out. That's where the book comes in. It stretches our thinking and shows a model or a way of life that has potential in helping us Engage with God, each other, our community and our world. And I might add ... the authors are actually living out this model quite effectively.

If you would like to be part of the book study, let me know by emailing me or posting a reply here. I am thinking that it will be every other week on Sundays in late April and May.

Linchpin...

Last night as I stayed at the homeless shelter overnight, I started reading "Linchpin" by Seth Godin. It is a very interesting read!

I've been feeling for a long time and very urgently in the past months that it is time for a shift in the way we do church... the way I pastor.... the way we engage our community and world so that God's Kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven!

Here's a quote from Seth that I resonate with..."It's time to stop complying with the system and draw your own map. Stop settling for what's good enough and start creating art that matters. Stop asking what's in it for you and start giving gifts that change people. Then and only then, will you have achieved your potential."

If we are living to our potential, then our community and world become transformed by the love of God! Really transformed... not just words, but actions... LIFE!

A pic from yesterday...

It was so much fun to share in my friend Jenny's wedding yesterday! She and I graduated from Easton High in 1983 together and had lost touch until recently through Facebook. After being widowed way too young, she met a great guy, Neil, and I had the honor of officiating their wedding. What fun!

Here we are after the service. This is the suit I was married in in 1988!

A Blast From the Past....

Late this afternoon, Sharon and I will head across the Bay. Recently through Facebook, I re-connected with a friend of mine from High School. Jenny was one of my friends who helped me survive Mrs. Valliant's 11 grade English! As is usually the case, after graduation, everyone goes their own way... we lost touch. Until Facebook reconnected us. It's been fun reconnecting and it is even more fun being able to officiate at Jenny's wedding tomorrow!

Then the other blast comes on Tuesday of next week, when I preach the opening night revival meeting at my home church, the Fairview Church of the Brethren near Cordova, MD.

Both will be fun! It is always great to re-connect with people who you haven't seen in a while!

Two Thoughts....

When I walk at the mall by myself, I listen to a podcast of something. On the one I was listening to today, I heard two things that gave me pause. They are two totally different thoughts.

I am sharing them for you to think about too.

"People are born into this world as assets not liabilities!"

AND

"You don't have to travel far to change the life you are living."


What do you think?

How do you call yourself?

What term do you use to describe your faith? Are you a Christian? Or a Believer?

Personally, I don't like to be called a Christian! It is a label that people wear these days and as such I find it doesn't accurately describe who I am.

I also don't like to be called a Believer. There are a whole lot of things I believe in that don't affect the way I live my life.

I prefer to be called either a "Follower of Jesus" or an Apprentice of Jesus.

I want my life to make a difference for the Kingdom of God. I want it to be evident by the way I live my life that I love Jesus and the people and things he loves.

What about you?

Church

Some more thoughts from Hugh Halter's Tangible Kingdom.

"Church gatherings were never the intended goal; they were the natural result of people finding others who were living their alternative Kingdom story. The goal of our missional life is not to grow churches. The goal of church is to grow missionaries. The goal of the gospel is not to get people to church. The result of the gospel is that people will find each other and gather because of the deep meaning of a common experience."

"What we are learning is that God's church can be natural, and it will emerge anywhere an incarnational community exists. People will always be drawn to people who look, smell, and behave like Jesus, and if you're committed to caring for people who move toward Christ through you, church will become a labor of love for you as well. Fresh faces, new stories, and a web of relationships will witness to the tangible world Jesus called his Kingdom."

Check out this video (you may have to scroll down the page a bit)

Tangible Kingdom and Posture....

Here are some more great quotes from the book Tangible Kingdom by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay.

"Christ's example and his scripture show us that God is not proud when we prioritize our message over our posture. Jesus didn't and we shouldn't. He doesn't need us to stick up for him; he needs us to represent him, to be like him, to look like him and to talk like him, to be with people that he would be with , and to take the side of the "ignorant" instead of those in the know."

"I wonder what would happen if our posture became that of an advocate for those outside the kingdom? What if we set aside our apologetics and our theological arguments and just lived as Christ would in front of others? I wonder how God might lead us if we were more concerned about being a "friend of sinners" than a friend of those inside our church or denomination? My sense is that maybe people would begin to have the same feelings for us as they did for Jesus...."


"For our posture to change, our heart must change. And our heart only changes as we live among the people for whom we will eventually advocate. Jesus modeled it this way in Matthew 9:36: 'When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.'"...

"If you want an authentic heart for people outside the church... you've got to be with them. As they grab your heart, your posture will change, your angle of approach will change, and the kingdom of God will be a little more tangible."

Making the Kingdom Tangible....

On Friday night and Saturday, I was with Hugh Halter, one of the authors of a book called Tangible Kingdom. I read the book in 2008 when it first came out and was impressed by it. After the conversations on Friday and Saturday, I decided to read it again. I am glad I did. Lots of food for thought and action.

Over the next few days, I will be sharing quotes here from the book.

Hugh writes, "God could have sent his son by asking him to set up a website and download spiritual information to every bilboard in the world. But apparently he knew that information about him doesn't help people understand or love him. So, the only option for the Father and for us it to embody the concept. This is where a missionary starts. And the first thing that must change is our posture."

"In North America, people don't have anysense of the true Christian message any more because the face of that message looks so unlike the founder. Christianity is no almost impossible to explain, not because the concepts aren't intelligible, but because the living, moving, speaking examples of our faith don't line up with the message. Our poor posture overshadows the most beautiful story and reality the world has ever known."

Sad, but true! The question for us is what will we do about it? How will we change our posture so that others will be drawn to Jesus and living in his kingdom now?

Yesterday... Enjoying the Sun!

After lunch, Sharon and I went to Assateague Island. I took her on the beach in my truck. She had never done that before. It was fun. They were burning acres of fragmities.

Thought for the week...

Transformation always comes out of a point of tension.

Conversations

Looking forward to today and tomorrow. I am headed to Harrisburg, PA to spend some time with my friends and church planter, Ryan and Kim Braught and to participate in a workshop with Hugh Halter.

Ryan and Kim are leading the church plant that Community of Joy is supporting and I am excited to hear what is happening there!

Hugh Halter wrote a book I read last year that was over the top! Tangible Kingdom is a very helpful book. Just the title alone is a helpful way to think about the mission Jesus has given the church! Hugh has another book coming out this year that I am anxious to read called AND: The Gathered AND The Scattered Church. That title is also a helpful way to think about the mission of the church. It really is AND... not one or the other! Hoping that I will have opportunity to ask some questions of Hugh tonight at supper.

Should be a great weekend!

Some quotes from Tangible Kingdom... "Church must not be the goal of the gospel anymore. Church should not be the focus of our efforts or the banner we hold up to explain what we are about. Church should be what ends up happening as a natural response to people wanting to follow us, and be like us as we are following the way of Christ."

"Influence doesn't happen by extricating ourselves from the world for the sake of our values, but by bringing our values into the culture."

"The ancient church influenced the world not by lightening up their values or by veiling them but by living them out in plain view of culture around them. Their lives exposed and challenged the present value system with new kingdom."

"What causes exclusive community is fear. What creates inclusive community is love!"

"The gospel is the tangible life of God flowing into every nook and cranny of our everyday life."

Worship....

Thinking about worship this week. Our theme for the next 4 weeks is Engagement: Bringing together God's Supply and Human Need. This week we are thinking about Engaging with God through worship and devotion.

Found a great quote by Eugene Peterson about worship. "Worship doesn't quench your thirst for God, it whets your appetite!"

New Series....

For the Next 5 weeks we will look at the purpose/mission of the church using the framework (borrowed from Mel Lawrence) Engagement is Bringing Together God's Supply and Human Need.

Questions for CoJ....

Here are the questions that I was talking about on Sunday. As we think about Engagement: Bringing Together God's Supply AND Human Need think about these questions.

1. What do we need to STOP doing (as a church and as individuals)? We do lots of good things that keep us from engaging with God, each other, our community, and our world.

2. What bothers you about our church?

3. What bothers you about our community?

4. What bothers you about our world?

5. How can we do things better? How can we better engage with God, each other, our community, and our world?

What To Do with Numbers?

My Life Transformation Group has been reading in Numbers for the past couple weeks in our Daily Bible Reading. I admit it is hard reading. As my one friend says, "not much of it makes sense!"

Yesterday, the reading was about the various sacrifices that the people of Israel had to make for various reasons. It was 2 chapters of this detailed information. As I was reading it, my first thought was why do I need to know this? But then I had another thought!

I asked myself... "what is the purpose of these sacrifices?" And it seems to me that the answer is that they are part of keeping a closer connection between the people and God!

As we live our lives, it is real easy to allow distance to grow between us and the Lord. It is easy to get involved in life and "forget" God until we need him. These sacrifices constantly reminded the people of their need for God and were a way to keep them connected.

I am glad we have found other ways to do that!

It is important for us to keep a connection with God as we live our lives! And it is just as easy now as it was then to allow distance form and busyness to distance us.

There are lots of options for spiritual disciplines that will help us keep connected to the Lord. Our new small group will explore a number of the possibilities. For further exploration, google "spiritual disciplines" and explore a couple that will help you keep connected to the source of all that is - The Lord!