[Subversive Underground]
God Called. He Wants His Church Back
by Keith Giles
For far too long men have wrestled with God for control over His people.
Jesus modelled a servant leadership style for His disciples, and today our leaders emphasize a CEO brand of leadership patterned after the world of big business.
The Apostle Paul told us that we were the Temple of the Holy Spirit, yet Ministers today insist on collecting millions of dollars from their flock to build a temple where people can worship.
The Apostle Peter told us that we are the living stones God is building up to become His Church, and instead we are convinced that building the Church involves putting butts in the seats on Sunday morning.
Jesus commanded us to make disciples, those who would follow His teachings and apply them to their everyday life. Instead we have become experts at entertaining the Saints each week and occasionally converting a few to our denomination.
A SPIRITUAL HOUSE
The other day I read a familiar verse of Scripture and it hit me in a new way. Here's what I read:
"As you come to him, the living Stone...you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." - 1 Peter 2:4-5
What struck me about this verse was the simplicity of the promise here. As we come to Jesus, who is the Living Stone, we are also built into a spiritual house (The Church). Coming to Jesus doesn't involve coming to a place, it simply means coming to Him. It means seeking His Face and falling at His feet. As we come to Jesus, we will become like Jesus and He will build us up into a people who will reflect His character to the World.
OLD WINESKINS
A few weeks ago I visited a protestant church where there was actually a Holy of Holies at the front of the church where only the Priest and the ordained ministers were allowed to enter. It made me sad to think that Jesus had come and suffered so much, even torn the veil of the Jewish Temple in two, only to have His people create a new version of the same thing when they built the Church and named it after Him.
Why do we insist on returning to a place where professional clergy interact with God on our behalf? The Children of Israel begged Moses to speak to God for them because they were not comfortable hearing His voice or being in His presence. The Pharisees and other Jewish Leaders of Jesus' day created rules and regulations and barriers to the Temple so that very few people had access to God.
SAME OLD STORY
Have we built a Church today where our structures and rules have kept God's people from Him? Have we knowingly participated in a system of religion where only a select few have access to God on our behalf? Are we more comfortable being in the background while a paid clergy seek God for us?
YOU ARE A CHOSEN PEOPLE
God calls us a "royal priesthood." He has put His Holy Spirit within each individual believer and follower of Jesus. He has called every single one of us to be His Ambassadors to a fallen and broken world.
I believe that God is in the process of tearing down the man-made barriers we have built in order to get His Church, His Bride, back.
HE HAS A DREAM
God's plan has always been to have a living, breathing, active, passionate people on this Earth who will live out His Word and demonstrate His incredible love to those in darkness. He is a jealous God, according to His Word and "the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely" (James 4:5). God will not share us with a system built to keep Him out or us away from Him.
UNREALIZED POTENTIAL
God is calling all of us to step into the destiny He has bought for us with the blood of His Son. We are a royal priesthood. Each of us has the Spirit of the Living God within us if we have surrendered our hearts and lives to Jesus. We are empowered to preach. We are deputized to serve. We are qualified to love. We are energized with His power to accomplish all that He has called us to do.
Maybe that's why we prefer the safety of the pew? We are afraid to believe that this amazing promise of God could really be true. It's so much easier to send Moses to speak for us, or to build a Holy of Holies where only special clergy go and minister, or to pay a professional to go and preach and serve and love for us.
Like it or not, God wants His Church to step into the freedom and destiny He has called Her to. God will have His way. We cannot deny Him. Even if we deny it, we are still priests and kings who have been called upon to serve, and love, as Jesus did.
Will you believe God? Will you accept your place among the living stones who are being built into the temple of God?
Step forward. Accept your ordination into the service of the King.
You and I have a job to do.
-kg
www.keithgiles.com
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
Friday, May 30, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
RIGHT WHERE I WANT YOU
[Subversive Underground]
Right Where I Want You
by Keith Giles
(NOTE: This article is exercepted from my forthcoming book "The Power of Weakness")
Chapter 5 - MOSES
He was the chosen one. Pulled miraculously from the river by the daughter of the Pharoah, this promised messiah grew up among royalty. He had the best education possible in the greatest Empire of his day.
If the rest of this story were up to us, we'd probably have Moses assume the throne of Egypt through some Shakespearean tactic or strategic maneuvering and, voila, the oppression of the Jews would have ended as Moses took political power with the crowd cheering him on.
Moses himself probably assumed this was where things were going to end up. Why else would God have allowed him to be found and raised by the daughter of the King if it wasn't to have him use his influence to gain political favor for his people?
God had a different plan for Moses' life, however. One that would take him through the desert and strip him of his power, favor, wealth, influence and authority, leaving him with nothing more than a curled walking stick and the simple clothing of a common shepherd.
WHERE IT ALL WENT WRONG
In the beginning we meet a young Moses who is impulsive, presumptuous and headstrong.
Moses reveals his arrogance when he attempts to take control of his own destiny, as he understands it, and takes the life of an Egyptian soldier in the process of settling a simple dispute. In his own strength, Moses demonstrated how easy it can be to get in God's way.
Failing to successfully liberate even one Jewish man from a street-side argument, Moses is soon wandering in the desert alone, thirsty and disillusioned. He's almost nearly where God wants him to be.
CHANGE OF HEART
As Moses begins to let his assumptions die, God slowly unravels His plan for how Moses might liberate his people from their oppression. Again, God's plan isn't thrown off by Moses. God's plan, all along, was to have Moses rescue his people through a demonstration of God's power, and the weakness of Moses would have to be revealed before anyone, especially Moses, could recognize that power.
After forty years in the wilderness, a smaller, more humble Moses encounters God for the very first time. When he is given the call to return to Egypt to rescue his people from their slavery, it's the heart of Moses that is revealed when he responds, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharoah to bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
Now we see a changed man. Moses has lost his youthful bravado. He no longer believes that he has the big red "S" on his chest. He's older, wiser, and more humble now. You can almost hear God saying to Himself, "Ah! Now he's right where I want him."
God's answer to Moses is simply, "I will be with you."
GRACE TO THE HUMBLE
It's no coincidence that God came to call Moses to this task at a time when this man's heart was humble and soft. It's no coincidence that God's Word assures us that, "God opposes the proud, but gives Grace to the humble."
If we're truly wise, we know that we don't ever want God to be opposing us. To tangle with a being like God is to play with your own eternal destiny. However, the good news is that Grace is freely available to the humble, the weak, and the sincere of heart.
When you see a person who is supremely confident in themselves, ready to take on the world, you know that there's a disaster coming soon. "Pride," God tells us, "Comes before a fall." (Proverbs 3:34)
Before God humbled Moses in the wilderness, he was on his way to becoming a powerful, headstrong, failure. With all the political power at his disposal, with all the influence of the Egyptian Empire, Moses' story would no doubt have had an entirely different ending. Moses may have ended up with a legacy more akin to that of Samson or Solomon than to the events we see recorded in Exodus.
MILD AT HEART
The truth is, the best a man can do is the best a man can do, and in the end, that's not very much. One of the most amazing truths I have discovered is that the person who waits for God to fight his battles is far more influential than the one who takes matters in his own hands.
It's more popular today to talk about men being adventurous and created for battle than it is to suggest that a real man's character is more like that of Jesus, who turned the other cheek and stressed love and forgiveness for enemies, rather than violence.
The man who follows the example of celluloid heroes like John Wayne or "The Gladiator", is in reality a very small person. The man who acts aggressively, who confronts the bully in the school-yard, or the work place, or lays down the law in his own home, is only able to hold influence over those within his own limited grasp.
Using his fists, or violence or intimidation, such a person might appear, at first, to be a natural leader, a hero, or a "Real Man". While this "Man of Action" might be the king of his castle, the most feared person at work, and win the admiration of those other men who personally love him because of his "take charge" attitude, the truth is, according to God's Kingdom, such a man is no different than the pagans around him. "If you only love those who love you, what credit is that to you?" Jesus asks in Matthew 5:46.
Not only is this kind of person small, he is also in direct opposition to all that Jesus stood for. The Gospel that Jesus came and died to proclaim was the Gospel of the Kingdom. He proclaimed that it was to be entered by way of obedience to God. "Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of God, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matt 7:21).
THE LOST ART OF FOLLOWING JESUS
For many of us, the words of Jesus seem to be for another place and time. We can hardly imagine anyone living by the commands of Jesus on a daily basis. What good could it possibly do to turn the other cheek when we're assaulted? Or to hand over our wallet to the thief who wants to steal our Ipod? Surely Jesus doesn't actually expect us to put these insane ideas into practice? Maybe these are meant to illustrate a delicate matter of theology far removed from actual life? But, then again, maybe not.
Jesus very simply called people to follow Him. This meant, in a very practical sense, living a life here and now where we put His words into practice in our actual lives.
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." - Matthew 7:24-27
Over and over again Jesus makes it plain that the one who loves him is the one who does what he says:
"If you love me, you will obey what I command." - Jesus (John 14:15)
"You are my friends if you do what I command"- Jesus (John 15:14)
"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me." - Jesus (John 14:21)
"If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching."
- Jesus (John 14:23)
"If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love.."
- Jesus (John 15:10)
He who does not love me will not obey my teaching."
- Jesus (John 14:24)
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven"- Jesus (Matthew 7:21).
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."
- Jesus (Matthew 28: 19- 20).
The rest of the New Testament continues to echo this idea that to be a Christian is to be one who puts the words and teachings of Jesus into practice"
"Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him." - 1 John 3:21-22
"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-16).
"Those who obey His commands live in Him and He in them."
- 1 John 3:24
"This is love for God: to obey His commands." - 1 John 5:3
"And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands."
- 2 John 1:6
WHO WEARS THE CROWN?
So, a person who chooses to live their life by the words of Frank Sinatra, "I Did It Myyyyy Waaayyyy", cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus is clear on this point. We cannot wear the crown and still maintain that Jesus is our King. Either Jesus is the King, and we are humble, obedient servants of His Kingdom, or we wear the crown and then we can do whatever we want. But we cannot have it both ways. We cannot be humble and obedient, while at the same time kicking butts and taking names in order to impose our own territorial empire.
"This, then, is how you should pray...'Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven'" (Matt 6:9-10) It's God's Kingdom that must come to earth, and it's God's will that must be done here as well, not our own.
REAL POWER
Where is real power? Where is real influence? Even taking a look at our own human history we can see that the greatest among us, those who stand head and shoulders above the rest, are those who stood for the least and defended the oppressed.
The person who chooses to turn the other cheek like Jesus, or to love instead of to fight back like Ghandi, or to heal instead of condemn like Mother Teresa, or to march instead of to take up arms like Martin Luther King Jr., is the sort of person who is able to influence entire nations and to inherit a legacy that will live beyond the grave and inspire others to do the same.
What sort of person do you want to be? Do you prefer to rule by your own two hands? Do you feel more at ease when others tremble before your influence and power? Or do you long for a life that inspires others to do great things?
THE GIFT OF WEAKNESS
When Moses is finally called by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, his response is that he has a weakness which inhibits him. He complains that he is "slow of speech," yet God's answer to him is most revealing; "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him site or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?" (Exodus 4:11)
According to God, in this passage, the weaknesses we have are given to us by God. He created Moses with a speech impediment. Why would He do that? Perhaps so that Moses would learn to lean on God, and not on himself, when it came to speaking to the people and to Pharaoh?
Moses was a man who, with God's help, was able to realize the true secret to power through humility, and his own God-given weakness. We also can learn to find the power of Christ at work in us when we submit ourselves to God, lay down our agenda, and simply say "Yes" to His perfect plan for our lives.
-kg
http://www.keithgiles.com
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
Right Where I Want You
by Keith Giles
(NOTE: This article is exercepted from my forthcoming book "The Power of Weakness")
Chapter 5 - MOSES
He was the chosen one. Pulled miraculously from the river by the daughter of the Pharoah, this promised messiah grew up among royalty. He had the best education possible in the greatest Empire of his day.
If the rest of this story were up to us, we'd probably have Moses assume the throne of Egypt through some Shakespearean tactic or strategic maneuvering and, voila, the oppression of the Jews would have ended as Moses took political power with the crowd cheering him on.
Moses himself probably assumed this was where things were going to end up. Why else would God have allowed him to be found and raised by the daughter of the King if it wasn't to have him use his influence to gain political favor for his people?
God had a different plan for Moses' life, however. One that would take him through the desert and strip him of his power, favor, wealth, influence and authority, leaving him with nothing more than a curled walking stick and the simple clothing of a common shepherd.
WHERE IT ALL WENT WRONG
In the beginning we meet a young Moses who is impulsive, presumptuous and headstrong.
Moses reveals his arrogance when he attempts to take control of his own destiny, as he understands it, and takes the life of an Egyptian soldier in the process of settling a simple dispute. In his own strength, Moses demonstrated how easy it can be to get in God's way.
Failing to successfully liberate even one Jewish man from a street-side argument, Moses is soon wandering in the desert alone, thirsty and disillusioned. He's almost nearly where God wants him to be.
CHANGE OF HEART
As Moses begins to let his assumptions die, God slowly unravels His plan for how Moses might liberate his people from their oppression. Again, God's plan isn't thrown off by Moses. God's plan, all along, was to have Moses rescue his people through a demonstration of God's power, and the weakness of Moses would have to be revealed before anyone, especially Moses, could recognize that power.
After forty years in the wilderness, a smaller, more humble Moses encounters God for the very first time. When he is given the call to return to Egypt to rescue his people from their slavery, it's the heart of Moses that is revealed when he responds, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharoah to bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
Now we see a changed man. Moses has lost his youthful bravado. He no longer believes that he has the big red "S" on his chest. He's older, wiser, and more humble now. You can almost hear God saying to Himself, "Ah! Now he's right where I want him."
God's answer to Moses is simply, "I will be with you."
GRACE TO THE HUMBLE
It's no coincidence that God came to call Moses to this task at a time when this man's heart was humble and soft. It's no coincidence that God's Word assures us that, "God opposes the proud, but gives Grace to the humble."
If we're truly wise, we know that we don't ever want God to be opposing us. To tangle with a being like God is to play with your own eternal destiny. However, the good news is that Grace is freely available to the humble, the weak, and the sincere of heart.
When you see a person who is supremely confident in themselves, ready to take on the world, you know that there's a disaster coming soon. "Pride," God tells us, "Comes before a fall." (Proverbs 3:34)
Before God humbled Moses in the wilderness, he was on his way to becoming a powerful, headstrong, failure. With all the political power at his disposal, with all the influence of the Egyptian Empire, Moses' story would no doubt have had an entirely different ending. Moses may have ended up with a legacy more akin to that of Samson or Solomon than to the events we see recorded in Exodus.
MILD AT HEART
The truth is, the best a man can do is the best a man can do, and in the end, that's not very much. One of the most amazing truths I have discovered is that the person who waits for God to fight his battles is far more influential than the one who takes matters in his own hands.
It's more popular today to talk about men being adventurous and created for battle than it is to suggest that a real man's character is more like that of Jesus, who turned the other cheek and stressed love and forgiveness for enemies, rather than violence.
The man who follows the example of celluloid heroes like John Wayne or "The Gladiator", is in reality a very small person. The man who acts aggressively, who confronts the bully in the school-yard, or the work place, or lays down the law in his own home, is only able to hold influence over those within his own limited grasp.
Using his fists, or violence or intimidation, such a person might appear, at first, to be a natural leader, a hero, or a "Real Man". While this "Man of Action" might be the king of his castle, the most feared person at work, and win the admiration of those other men who personally love him because of his "take charge" attitude, the truth is, according to God's Kingdom, such a man is no different than the pagans around him. "If you only love those who love you, what credit is that to you?" Jesus asks in Matthew 5:46.
Not only is this kind of person small, he is also in direct opposition to all that Jesus stood for. The Gospel that Jesus came and died to proclaim was the Gospel of the Kingdom. He proclaimed that it was to be entered by way of obedience to God. "Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of God, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matt 7:21).
THE LOST ART OF FOLLOWING JESUS
For many of us, the words of Jesus seem to be for another place and time. We can hardly imagine anyone living by the commands of Jesus on a daily basis. What good could it possibly do to turn the other cheek when we're assaulted? Or to hand over our wallet to the thief who wants to steal our Ipod? Surely Jesus doesn't actually expect us to put these insane ideas into practice? Maybe these are meant to illustrate a delicate matter of theology far removed from actual life? But, then again, maybe not.
Jesus very simply called people to follow Him. This meant, in a very practical sense, living a life here and now where we put His words into practice in our actual lives.
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." - Matthew 7:24-27
Over and over again Jesus makes it plain that the one who loves him is the one who does what he says:
"If you love me, you will obey what I command." - Jesus (John 14:15)
"You are my friends if you do what I command"- Jesus (John 15:14)
"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me." - Jesus (John 14:21)
"If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching."
- Jesus (John 14:23)
"If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love.."
- Jesus (John 15:10)
He who does not love me will not obey my teaching."
- Jesus (John 14:24)
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven"- Jesus (Matthew 7:21).
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."
- Jesus (Matthew 28: 19- 20).
The rest of the New Testament continues to echo this idea that to be a Christian is to be one who puts the words and teachings of Jesus into practice"
"Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him." - 1 John 3:21-22
"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-16).
"Those who obey His commands live in Him and He in them."
- 1 John 3:24
"This is love for God: to obey His commands." - 1 John 5:3
"And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands."
- 2 John 1:6
WHO WEARS THE CROWN?
So, a person who chooses to live their life by the words of Frank Sinatra, "I Did It Myyyyy Waaayyyy", cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus is clear on this point. We cannot wear the crown and still maintain that Jesus is our King. Either Jesus is the King, and we are humble, obedient servants of His Kingdom, or we wear the crown and then we can do whatever we want. But we cannot have it both ways. We cannot be humble and obedient, while at the same time kicking butts and taking names in order to impose our own territorial empire.
"This, then, is how you should pray...'Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven'" (Matt 6:9-10) It's God's Kingdom that must come to earth, and it's God's will that must be done here as well, not our own.
REAL POWER
Where is real power? Where is real influence? Even taking a look at our own human history we can see that the greatest among us, those who stand head and shoulders above the rest, are those who stood for the least and defended the oppressed.
The person who chooses to turn the other cheek like Jesus, or to love instead of to fight back like Ghandi, or to heal instead of condemn like Mother Teresa, or to march instead of to take up arms like Martin Luther King Jr., is the sort of person who is able to influence entire nations and to inherit a legacy that will live beyond the grave and inspire others to do the same.
What sort of person do you want to be? Do you prefer to rule by your own two hands? Do you feel more at ease when others tremble before your influence and power? Or do you long for a life that inspires others to do great things?
THE GIFT OF WEAKNESS
When Moses is finally called by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, his response is that he has a weakness which inhibits him. He complains that he is "slow of speech," yet God's answer to him is most revealing; "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him site or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?" (Exodus 4:11)
According to God, in this passage, the weaknesses we have are given to us by God. He created Moses with a speech impediment. Why would He do that? Perhaps so that Moses would learn to lean on God, and not on himself, when it came to speaking to the people and to Pharaoh?
Moses was a man who, with God's help, was able to realize the true secret to power through humility, and his own God-given weakness. We also can learn to find the power of Christ at work in us when we submit ourselves to God, lay down our agenda, and simply say "Yes" to His perfect plan for our lives.
-kg
http://www.keithgiles.com
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
Friday, May 16, 2008
MORE THAN A MANIFESTO
by Keith Giles
You probably had no idea, but recently several key Evangelical Christian leaders gathered together to write an Evangelical Manifesto.
In this document the authors (Os Guinness, Dallas Willard, Rick Warren, etc.) admitted that the title "Evangelical Christian" has lost its original meaning due to years of poor behavior on the part of those who carry the name. They say, "the confusions and corruptions surrounding the term Evangelical have grown so deep that the character of what it means has been obscured" and admit that those who wear the label Evangelical "have become known for commercial, diluted and feel-good gospels of health, wealth, human potential, and religious happy talk."
They go on to admit that Evangelicals have strayed from their initial practice of loving people, showing compassion to the poor and protecting the weak and the innocent, all of which I whole-heartedly agree with.
IT MEANS SOMETHING
When heavy-weights in the Evangelical Christian Community come together to identify a problem of this magnitude and speak out in solidarity against the failures of the Christian Church it should give us all pause to reflect and take notice.
This Evangelical Manifesto goes a long way towards admitting where the Church has gone off track and pointing the way forward for those who have wandered off the path.
I cannot find myself disagreeing with anything these men of God have to say regarding the state of the Church today and the need to reform ourselves in practice. I applaud them for seeing what many of us have seen for years now and for taking the time and energy to pen such a unified statement of confession.
There's just one problem: It won't make any difference.
How can I say this? Well, to begin with no one in the Evangelical Christian Community will do anything different tomorrow because of this Manifesto. Your pastor will not preach a sermon on this on Sunday. Your Christian friends will not be buzzing about this document. They will not read it. They will not do anything different tomorrow because it has been written.
While I agree with the Manifesto, and I highly respect the men who took the time to write it, I have to admit that it will do absolutely nothing to change the way Evangelical Christians live out their daily faith.
THE BASIC PROBLEM
The real problem is revealed in the Manifesto itself. We who call ourselves "Evangelical Christians" are largely unconcerned with actually following Jesus on a daily basis and have no intention of living out the commands of Jesus in our actual life.
If we were committed to those things we wouldn't have need of a Manifesto. If our Pastors were teaching us to follow Jesus on a daily basis, we would not have such a bad reputation in our land. If our airwaves were filled with teachers and preachers and evangelists who communicated the Gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus preached, we wouldn't have churches filled with people who think that being a Christian means saying a prayer so you can go to Heaven when you die.
The reason why people are not following Jesus today is because we are not asking people to follow Jesus, we are asking them to become Christians.
JESUS AND HIS CHURCH
Warren and Willard and Guinness are correct: The term "Evangelical Christian" is one that refers to someone who is more interested in being right than in daily following Jesus. My solution is to stop asking people to become Christians. My solution is to encourage people to start following Jesus.
"It's not that Christianity has been tried and found wanting; it's that it has been found difficult and left untried." - G.K. Chesterton
Whenever you identify yourself as a "Christian" in today's culture you align yourself with someone who looks like anything but the imitation of Jesus.
What was Jesus like? Let's look at some of his qualities:
*Compassionate
*Loving
*Caring
*Comfortable around sinners (drunks, prostitutes, tax collectors, etc.)
*Concerned for the poor, the sick, the outcast
*An advocate for peace
*Radically Inclusive
*Interested in the lives of others
*Introduced a spiritual solution to society's problems
What is the Christian Church like? Here's a short list:
*Intolerant of those who are not like themselves.
*Uncomfortable around drunks, prostitutes, sinners, etc.
*Concerned for their own personal success
*Not very concerned with the poor, the sick, or the outcast
*Obsessed with a political solution to society's problems
*Defined more by what they hate/dislike
*Largely supportive of war against our enemies
NOT A CHRISTIAN
The reason why Christianity in America is toxic to most people is that those who are called to be representatives of Jesus have done a terrible job. This is why I cannot bring myself to be indentified as a "Christian" to someone outside the Church. They hear that term and they equate me with the big-haired, money-hungry, gay-bashing, waiting-for-the-rapture brand of Believer. That is not who I am. That is not the Jesus I follow.
What needs to happen is that those who call themselves followers of Jesus begin to actually follow Him. Each and every day, one at a time, we must begin to live out the calling of Christ to take up our cross, die to ourselves, and follow Him.
There is no other way.
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock" - Jesus, Matthew 7:24.
-kg
http://www.keithgiles.com
**
TO REPLY PLEASE EMAIL ME DIRECTLY AT:
elysiansky (at) hotmail (dot) com
**
MIKE PILAVACHI - "The Ministry of The Holy Spirit"
When: Saturday, June 28th 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Where: Soul Survivor Church at Triangle Square in Costa Mesa
Cost: $8.00 (includes lunch)
REGISTER ONLINE NOW (Seating will be limited and this will fill up quickly)-
ONLINE REGISTRATION IS
HERE
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
You probably had no idea, but recently several key Evangelical Christian leaders gathered together to write an Evangelical Manifesto.
In this document the authors (Os Guinness, Dallas Willard, Rick Warren, etc.) admitted that the title "Evangelical Christian" has lost its original meaning due to years of poor behavior on the part of those who carry the name. They say, "the confusions and corruptions surrounding the term Evangelical have grown so deep that the character of what it means has been obscured" and admit that those who wear the label Evangelical "have become known for commercial, diluted and feel-good gospels of health, wealth, human potential, and religious happy talk."
They go on to admit that Evangelicals have strayed from their initial practice of loving people, showing compassion to the poor and protecting the weak and the innocent, all of which I whole-heartedly agree with.
IT MEANS SOMETHING
When heavy-weights in the Evangelical Christian Community come together to identify a problem of this magnitude and speak out in solidarity against the failures of the Christian Church it should give us all pause to reflect and take notice.
This Evangelical Manifesto goes a long way towards admitting where the Church has gone off track and pointing the way forward for those who have wandered off the path.
I cannot find myself disagreeing with anything these men of God have to say regarding the state of the Church today and the need to reform ourselves in practice. I applaud them for seeing what many of us have seen for years now and for taking the time and energy to pen such a unified statement of confession.
There's just one problem: It won't make any difference.
How can I say this? Well, to begin with no one in the Evangelical Christian Community will do anything different tomorrow because of this Manifesto. Your pastor will not preach a sermon on this on Sunday. Your Christian friends will not be buzzing about this document. They will not read it. They will not do anything different tomorrow because it has been written.
While I agree with the Manifesto, and I highly respect the men who took the time to write it, I have to admit that it will do absolutely nothing to change the way Evangelical Christians live out their daily faith.
THE BASIC PROBLEM
The real problem is revealed in the Manifesto itself. We who call ourselves "Evangelical Christians" are largely unconcerned with actually following Jesus on a daily basis and have no intention of living out the commands of Jesus in our actual life.
If we were committed to those things we wouldn't have need of a Manifesto. If our Pastors were teaching us to follow Jesus on a daily basis, we would not have such a bad reputation in our land. If our airwaves were filled with teachers and preachers and evangelists who communicated the Gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus preached, we wouldn't have churches filled with people who think that being a Christian means saying a prayer so you can go to Heaven when you die.
The reason why people are not following Jesus today is because we are not asking people to follow Jesus, we are asking them to become Christians.
JESUS AND HIS CHURCH
Warren and Willard and Guinness are correct: The term "Evangelical Christian" is one that refers to someone who is more interested in being right than in daily following Jesus. My solution is to stop asking people to become Christians. My solution is to encourage people to start following Jesus.
"It's not that Christianity has been tried and found wanting; it's that it has been found difficult and left untried." - G.K. Chesterton
Whenever you identify yourself as a "Christian" in today's culture you align yourself with someone who looks like anything but the imitation of Jesus.
What was Jesus like? Let's look at some of his qualities:
*Compassionate
*Loving
*Caring
*Comfortable around sinners (drunks, prostitutes, tax collectors, etc.)
*Concerned for the poor, the sick, the outcast
*An advocate for peace
*Radically Inclusive
*Interested in the lives of others
*Introduced a spiritual solution to society's problems
What is the Christian Church like? Here's a short list:
*Intolerant of those who are not like themselves.
*Uncomfortable around drunks, prostitutes, sinners, etc.
*Concerned for their own personal success
*Not very concerned with the poor, the sick, or the outcast
*Obsessed with a political solution to society's problems
*Defined more by what they hate/dislike
*Largely supportive of war against our enemies
NOT A CHRISTIAN
The reason why Christianity in America is toxic to most people is that those who are called to be representatives of Jesus have done a terrible job. This is why I cannot bring myself to be indentified as a "Christian" to someone outside the Church. They hear that term and they equate me with the big-haired, money-hungry, gay-bashing, waiting-for-the-rapture brand of Believer. That is not who I am. That is not the Jesus I follow.
What needs to happen is that those who call themselves followers of Jesus begin to actually follow Him. Each and every day, one at a time, we must begin to live out the calling of Christ to take up our cross, die to ourselves, and follow Him.
There is no other way.
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock" - Jesus, Matthew 7:24.
-kg
http://www.keithgiles.com
**
TO REPLY PLEASE EMAIL ME DIRECTLY AT:
elysiansky (at) hotmail (dot) com
**
MIKE PILAVACHI - "The Ministry of The Holy Spirit"
When: Saturday, June 28th 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Where: Soul Survivor Church at Triangle Square in Costa Mesa
Cost: $8.00 (includes lunch)
REGISTER ONLINE NOW (Seating will be limited and this will fill up quickly)-
ONLINE REGISTRATION IS
HERE
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Exploitation or Empowerment?
[SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND]
Exploitation or Empowerment?
By Keith Giles
Just imagine for a moment that you could be part of a church where the one thing they were extremely good at was to help everyone discover what their calling and gifting was. Then imagine that the one thing they always did next was to set you free and encourage you to follow that dream and live out that God-given calling. Wouldn’t that be amazing?
Wouldn't it be so incredible to be part of a church that was passionate about helping others realize their hopes and live out their dreams? Can you just imagine how others would speak of a church like that to their friends?
"Do you know what these people did for me? They loved me, they supported me, they encouraged me, they gave me confidence, they cheered me on and they put their resources towards making my life-long purpose a reality."
Wouldn't you want to know how to get to a church like that? Wouldn't you be excited to get in line and have your turn at being empowered and loved and supported and set free to live out the calling and utilize the talents God gave to you?
I just have to wonder, why isn't every Christian Church on the face of the planet like that?
Wolfgang Simson, author of "Houses That Change the World", put together a fascinating list to help us see the difference between Church as God intended it and Church as we so often experience it.
HOW TO EMPOWER OTHERS vs HOW TO EXPLOIT OTHERS
*Give people something to do OR *Give people something to attend
*Believe in people OR *Make people believe in you
*Delegate authority OR *Require submission to your authority
*Further God's plan for their life OR *Make them part of your plans
*Invest in them OR * Use them
*Love them and show it OR *Love the task more than the people
*Give them what you have OR *Take what they have
*Provide resources for growth OR *Harvest their resources for your own use
*Discuss with them OR * Preach at them
*Spend time freely with them OR *Require appointments that suit your schedule
*Give them the keys now OR *Hold back until you retire
*Serve them OR *Get them to serve you
*Praise them OR *Accept their praise graciously
*Transfer masterhood to them OR *Demonstrate your masterhood to them
APPLE TREES, NOT JUST APPLES
Someone once pointed out to me that the goal of an apple tree is not to produce more apples. It's to produce more apple trees. This is the organic purpose found in nature, and it's the organic purpose of the Body of Christ as well.
When an apple tree produces apples that's important. You can't really be an apple tree and not produce apples, of course. But if everything ended there the apple tree would not have achieved the purpose for which God designed it. The apple tree must produce more apple trees in order to realize its full potential. Otherwise, when that tree dies, so does the potential for creating more apples.
In the context of the Christian church I see too many pastors and church leaders who are terrified of taking their brightest and most talented and releasing them into the world. They feel that losing those gifted, intelligent, talented individuals will somehow make their church poorer and weaker. So they expend a whole lot of energy trying to keep those people busy and connected and plugged in to what they are doing instead of encouraging them to discover their gifting and calling and releasing them to go and to do whatever it is that God has created them for.
A church that practiced encouraging growth like this would be responsible for spawning ministries and providing good fruit for the community on an exponential level. It would also be living out the command of Scripture to seek the good of others around us rather than selfishly seeking our own good. (Philippians 2:3)
Usually the only way someone with talent and vision ever leaves one church to start another is when they leave under protest and start something all by themselves. Why? Because most pastors will tell you that they are not ready to start planting a church until they reach 500 members. The problem with that is when you realize that the average church in America is only about 250 to 300 people. Most never reach the 500 mark, and honestly when they do reach that milestone few of those churches ever actually plant another church because they have not planned to do so.
JUST IMAGINE
If we go back to my imaginary Church above, you know the one where everyone is encouraged and empowered and released to live out the calling God has placed on them? Any church that actually lived that out and practiced this sort of extravagant empowerment wouldn't be able to contain the people who flocked to their doorstep. They also wouldn't be able to survive the flood of people unless they were continually sending people out and giving away their brightest and best to fulfill the destiny God had placed on them.
I can't help but feel that this was what Jesus had in mind all along. When he commanded us to love one another and share everything we had with others, Jesus was deputizing us to do the work he started. Jesus trained a handful of men to be salt and light in the world and then he cut them loose and set them free to live out the things he had taught them. He also commanded them to repeat that pattern over and over again. "Go into the world and make disciples of all nations...teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you..." he said. And that's exactly what they did. Over and over again. They followed Jesus and they taught others how to follow Jesus so that they could go out and teach others how to follow Jesus too.
A SCHOOL THAT YOU NEVER GRADUATE FROM
My friend Brent once said that traditional Churches today are like an eternal school full of people who will never graduate. Everyone has to sit through essentially the same lecture each week and there is no homework (so the pastor doesn't test who is putting things into practice or not), and worst of all no one ever graduates and becomes an instructor themselves.
Here's a great solution: Teach your people to become teachers. If you are in the habit of training others to become trainers of others (this is a very basic principle of discipleship), you will eventually end up with a church full of teachers and trainers who are training others to also be teachers and trainers. Over time your church will become so full of mature ("Graduated") leaders and disciple-makers that your small staff will act mostly as facilitators and not the one's who must always be "hands-on" for every single event/class/lesson/bible study, etc.
LACK OF TRUST
I have personally been shocked to see a lack of basic trust among most lead pastors to "give away the ministry" in this way. Many pastors are too afraid to actually empower and release others to do their job. Why? Well, it's pretty obvious that this threatens their authority and job security. But, it doesn't have to. I believe any pastor who actually put this into practice would quickly become the envy of other pastors in their community. They'd get phone calls from other pastors asking, "How do you do it?" and "Can you show me how to do what you're doing?"
RETURN TO THE PRIESTHOOD OF BELIEVERS
Most pastors and on-staff ministers can relate to the fact that only a handful of people do all the work and ministry in the Body while 80% to 90% sit back and do nothing. This creates frustration, burn-out and, honestly, a large group of underdeveloped disciples.
What happened to the Priesthood of the Believer? What happened to opening the Word of God and trusting the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth?
“But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”
– 1 Peter 2:9
The liberty offered to us in Christ Jesus was meant to empower every believer to become a committed and devoted disciple who, then in turn, goes and creates other committed and devoted disciples. The early church was not full of seminary trained Bible teachers. Most of those who lead the weekly gatherings in their homes were average, ordinary people like you and I. They were lead by the Holy Spirit as they prayed, studied the Scriptures and met together with other followers of Jesus each week.
In my experience as a house church pastor I can testify to the truth of the scriptures where God promises that He will build His church. He doesn’t need our help. He is also true to His word and promise that the Holy Spirit will lead us into all Truth. (John 16:13; 1 Cor 12)
THE POWER OF LETTING GO
We have a tendency in our traditional churches to centralize certain people as leaders and, in turn, we disqualify everyone else from participating. I believe that this is not the way God intended things to be. We were not saved and filled with the Holy Spirit to simply remain spectators as a select few act out their calling and live out their purpose.
Each of us in the Body of Christ has a specific calling and gift. If we are not set free to use it as God intended not only will we suffer as individuals, we will suffer as a Body, and the Nation will suffer due to our unrealized potential.
(See 1 Cor. 12)
Let me encourage you to discover your calling as a valued member of God’s Family. Once you’ve heard God’s voice and you’ve understood the purpose God has for you as an agent of change within this culture, let me be the first to urge you to step outside the nest and spread your wings.
If you feel called to start a Bible Study in your home, do it. If you feel called to go out into the streets and reach out to the homeless, or the prostitute, go for it. If you have a passion to start a new kind of church that facilitates community and reaches a new generation, make it so.
Don’t allow anyone to hold you back. The Kingdom is wide open. Take that first leap...and soar!
-kg
**
MIKE PILAVACHI: THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Mike Pilavachi, the founder of Soul Survivor Ministries, will be coming to America and speaking here in Orange County at a special one day conference on the Holy Spirit.
Mike Pilavachi is a powerful, and inspiring speaker. I've been very blessed by Mike in the past, as he shared at Soul Survivor events over the years and I am thrilled to be able to invite everyone to be part of hearing him speak on the Ministry of the Holy Spirit next month.
Mike will be sharing on Saturday, June 28th, from 10am to 2pm at Triangle Square on the Holy Spirit and provide practical training on how to pray for people, how to minister to one another, how to operate in your spiritual gifting, etc. Registration is just $8 and lunch is included. This date will fill up quickly (only 100 seats are available). If you can make it please register today, or at least sometime this week.
I will be at this event with my family. I encourage you to join us.
Please- Don't miss it!
When: Saturday, June 28th 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Where: Soul Survivor Church at Triangle Square in Costa Mesa
Cost: $8.00 (includes lunch)
REGISTER ONLINE NOW (Seating will be limited and this will fill up quickly)-
ONLINE REGISTRATION IS
HERE
**
SEND GAP A MESSAGE
My friend Jarred's SENDGAPCLOTHESBACK.COM initiative continues.
In order to protest the use of child slavery to produce clothing for the Gap Inc. store chain (which includes Old Navy and Bannanna Republic), my friend Jarred set up this website and activist initiative to send Gap, Inc. a message.
Phase 1 saw hundreds of people returning their Gap clothing en masse at stores in Miami, Orange County, New York (Times Square) and San Francisco.
Phase 2 is a little more...subversive.
Find out more and participate
HERE
**
TODD HUNTER: THREE IS ENOUGH MP3
Todd Hunter gave a great talk last Thursday concerning the state of Christianity in America today and what he feels we can do to change things for the better.
This was a very inspiring session and it's now available as a free MP3 download over at my podcast page on ITunes.
IF YOU USE ITUNES: GO TO [SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND] PODCAST
You can find Todd Hunter's "Three Is Enough" mp3 for free on ITunes under my [Subversive Underground] podcast page (which also has all 3 Non-Con messages).
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
Exploitation or Empowerment?
By Keith Giles
Just imagine for a moment that you could be part of a church where the one thing they were extremely good at was to help everyone discover what their calling and gifting was. Then imagine that the one thing they always did next was to set you free and encourage you to follow that dream and live out that God-given calling. Wouldn’t that be amazing?
Wouldn't it be so incredible to be part of a church that was passionate about helping others realize their hopes and live out their dreams? Can you just imagine how others would speak of a church like that to their friends?
"Do you know what these people did for me? They loved me, they supported me, they encouraged me, they gave me confidence, they cheered me on and they put their resources towards making my life-long purpose a reality."
Wouldn't you want to know how to get to a church like that? Wouldn't you be excited to get in line and have your turn at being empowered and loved and supported and set free to live out the calling and utilize the talents God gave to you?
I just have to wonder, why isn't every Christian Church on the face of the planet like that?
Wolfgang Simson, author of "Houses That Change the World", put together a fascinating list to help us see the difference between Church as God intended it and Church as we so often experience it.
HOW TO EMPOWER OTHERS vs HOW TO EXPLOIT OTHERS
*Give people something to do OR *Give people something to attend
*Believe in people OR *Make people believe in you
*Delegate authority OR *Require submission to your authority
*Further God's plan for their life OR *Make them part of your plans
*Invest in them OR * Use them
*Love them and show it OR *Love the task more than the people
*Give them what you have OR *Take what they have
*Provide resources for growth OR *Harvest their resources for your own use
*Discuss with them OR * Preach at them
*Spend time freely with them OR *Require appointments that suit your schedule
*Give them the keys now OR *Hold back until you retire
*Serve them OR *Get them to serve you
*Praise them OR *Accept their praise graciously
*Transfer masterhood to them OR *Demonstrate your masterhood to them
APPLE TREES, NOT JUST APPLES
Someone once pointed out to me that the goal of an apple tree is not to produce more apples. It's to produce more apple trees. This is the organic purpose found in nature, and it's the organic purpose of the Body of Christ as well.
When an apple tree produces apples that's important. You can't really be an apple tree and not produce apples, of course. But if everything ended there the apple tree would not have achieved the purpose for which God designed it. The apple tree must produce more apple trees in order to realize its full potential. Otherwise, when that tree dies, so does the potential for creating more apples.
In the context of the Christian church I see too many pastors and church leaders who are terrified of taking their brightest and most talented and releasing them into the world. They feel that losing those gifted, intelligent, talented individuals will somehow make their church poorer and weaker. So they expend a whole lot of energy trying to keep those people busy and connected and plugged in to what they are doing instead of encouraging them to discover their gifting and calling and releasing them to go and to do whatever it is that God has created them for.
A church that practiced encouraging growth like this would be responsible for spawning ministries and providing good fruit for the community on an exponential level. It would also be living out the command of Scripture to seek the good of others around us rather than selfishly seeking our own good. (Philippians 2:3)
Usually the only way someone with talent and vision ever leaves one church to start another is when they leave under protest and start something all by themselves. Why? Because most pastors will tell you that they are not ready to start planting a church until they reach 500 members. The problem with that is when you realize that the average church in America is only about 250 to 300 people. Most never reach the 500 mark, and honestly when they do reach that milestone few of those churches ever actually plant another church because they have not planned to do so.
JUST IMAGINE
If we go back to my imaginary Church above, you know the one where everyone is encouraged and empowered and released to live out the calling God has placed on them? Any church that actually lived that out and practiced this sort of extravagant empowerment wouldn't be able to contain the people who flocked to their doorstep. They also wouldn't be able to survive the flood of people unless they were continually sending people out and giving away their brightest and best to fulfill the destiny God had placed on them.
I can't help but feel that this was what Jesus had in mind all along. When he commanded us to love one another and share everything we had with others, Jesus was deputizing us to do the work he started. Jesus trained a handful of men to be salt and light in the world and then he cut them loose and set them free to live out the things he had taught them. He also commanded them to repeat that pattern over and over again. "Go into the world and make disciples of all nations...teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you..." he said. And that's exactly what they did. Over and over again. They followed Jesus and they taught others how to follow Jesus so that they could go out and teach others how to follow Jesus too.
A SCHOOL THAT YOU NEVER GRADUATE FROM
My friend Brent once said that traditional Churches today are like an eternal school full of people who will never graduate. Everyone has to sit through essentially the same lecture each week and there is no homework (so the pastor doesn't test who is putting things into practice or not), and worst of all no one ever graduates and becomes an instructor themselves.
Here's a great solution: Teach your people to become teachers. If you are in the habit of training others to become trainers of others (this is a very basic principle of discipleship), you will eventually end up with a church full of teachers and trainers who are training others to also be teachers and trainers. Over time your church will become so full of mature ("Graduated") leaders and disciple-makers that your small staff will act mostly as facilitators and not the one's who must always be "hands-on" for every single event/class/lesson/bible study, etc.
LACK OF TRUST
I have personally been shocked to see a lack of basic trust among most lead pastors to "give away the ministry" in this way. Many pastors are too afraid to actually empower and release others to do their job. Why? Well, it's pretty obvious that this threatens their authority and job security. But, it doesn't have to. I believe any pastor who actually put this into practice would quickly become the envy of other pastors in their community. They'd get phone calls from other pastors asking, "How do you do it?" and "Can you show me how to do what you're doing?"
RETURN TO THE PRIESTHOOD OF BELIEVERS
Most pastors and on-staff ministers can relate to the fact that only a handful of people do all the work and ministry in the Body while 80% to 90% sit back and do nothing. This creates frustration, burn-out and, honestly, a large group of underdeveloped disciples.
What happened to the Priesthood of the Believer? What happened to opening the Word of God and trusting the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth?
“But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”
– 1 Peter 2:9
The liberty offered to us in Christ Jesus was meant to empower every believer to become a committed and devoted disciple who, then in turn, goes and creates other committed and devoted disciples. The early church was not full of seminary trained Bible teachers. Most of those who lead the weekly gatherings in their homes were average, ordinary people like you and I. They were lead by the Holy Spirit as they prayed, studied the Scriptures and met together with other followers of Jesus each week.
In my experience as a house church pastor I can testify to the truth of the scriptures where God promises that He will build His church. He doesn’t need our help. He is also true to His word and promise that the Holy Spirit will lead us into all Truth. (John 16:13; 1 Cor 12)
THE POWER OF LETTING GO
We have a tendency in our traditional churches to centralize certain people as leaders and, in turn, we disqualify everyone else from participating. I believe that this is not the way God intended things to be. We were not saved and filled with the Holy Spirit to simply remain spectators as a select few act out their calling and live out their purpose.
Each of us in the Body of Christ has a specific calling and gift. If we are not set free to use it as God intended not only will we suffer as individuals, we will suffer as a Body, and the Nation will suffer due to our unrealized potential.
(See 1 Cor. 12)
Let me encourage you to discover your calling as a valued member of God’s Family. Once you’ve heard God’s voice and you’ve understood the purpose God has for you as an agent of change within this culture, let me be the first to urge you to step outside the nest and spread your wings.
If you feel called to start a Bible Study in your home, do it. If you feel called to go out into the streets and reach out to the homeless, or the prostitute, go for it. If you have a passion to start a new kind of church that facilitates community and reaches a new generation, make it so.
Don’t allow anyone to hold you back. The Kingdom is wide open. Take that first leap...and soar!
-kg
**
MIKE PILAVACHI: THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Mike Pilavachi, the founder of Soul Survivor Ministries, will be coming to America and speaking here in Orange County at a special one day conference on the Holy Spirit.
Mike Pilavachi is a powerful, and inspiring speaker. I've been very blessed by Mike in the past, as he shared at Soul Survivor events over the years and I am thrilled to be able to invite everyone to be part of hearing him speak on the Ministry of the Holy Spirit next month.
Mike will be sharing on Saturday, June 28th, from 10am to 2pm at Triangle Square on the Holy Spirit and provide practical training on how to pray for people, how to minister to one another, how to operate in your spiritual gifting, etc. Registration is just $8 and lunch is included. This date will fill up quickly (only 100 seats are available). If you can make it please register today, or at least sometime this week.
I will be at this event with my family. I encourage you to join us.
Please- Don't miss it!
When: Saturday, June 28th 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Where: Soul Survivor Church at Triangle Square in Costa Mesa
Cost: $8.00 (includes lunch)
REGISTER ONLINE NOW (Seating will be limited and this will fill up quickly)-
ONLINE REGISTRATION IS
HERE
**
SEND GAP A MESSAGE
My friend Jarred's SENDGAPCLOTHESBACK.COM initiative continues.
In order to protest the use of child slavery to produce clothing for the Gap Inc. store chain (which includes Old Navy and Bannanna Republic), my friend Jarred set up this website and activist initiative to send Gap, Inc. a message.
Phase 1 saw hundreds of people returning their Gap clothing en masse at stores in Miami, Orange County, New York (Times Square) and San Francisco.
Phase 2 is a little more...subversive.
Find out more and participate
HERE
**
TODD HUNTER: THREE IS ENOUGH MP3
Todd Hunter gave a great talk last Thursday concerning the state of Christianity in America today and what he feels we can do to change things for the better.
This was a very inspiring session and it's now available as a free MP3 download over at my podcast page on ITunes.
IF YOU USE ITUNES: GO TO [SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND] PODCAST
You can find Todd Hunter's "Three Is Enough" mp3 for free on ITunes under my [Subversive Underground] podcast page (which also has all 3 Non-Con messages).
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
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