QUESTIONS
By Keith Giles
I have learned something important about myself in the process of leading a house church that has taken me by surprise.
Over the last few years of my life I have become fascinated by the teaching style of Jesus. He told stories, he provoked thought, he invited questions and more often than not he allowed questions to go unanswered.
In my own personal life I have prayed that God would help me to be more of a teacher like Jesus who is not afraid of questions and who is able to provoke people to thought, to change and to action by his stories and by the way he allows people to figure things out for themselves without throwing out easy answers to everyone.
That's the goal. The reality is something else altogether.
I have an old poster that I took off the wall in the Art Department where I went to college. It says, "Well-formed questions are more useful than well-formed answers". I love that poster. I love the radical notion that sometimes questions are more useful than answers.
In the scriptures, Jesus was asked something like forty three questions and he only actually answered two of those questions. The others he either answered with a question of his own, or he outright refused to give an answer at all. I love that about Jesus. He was not focused so much on the answers, but he was interested mostly in helping people to think things out for themselves.
I am learning that, as much as I value this quality, I am not comfortable with it in everyday practice.
One of the things that frustrates me most about the modern Christian subculture in America is our fixation with providing answers. I hate that we have tried to reduce the Gospel into a sound bite, thus removing from it the true power it has to transform us. I hate that we often employ answer-based evangelism whether or not the people being evangelized have ever asked us the questions. I long to see more question-based forms of evangelism and communication come out of the Church and this is mostly because it brings our own need to live out the Gospel message into the light and the conversation.
Still, what I have learned about myself through our house church is that I personally am terrified of questions in a group setting. The last few weeks God has pointed out to me my annoying habit of answering each and every question raised in our house church meeting. I realize that I do this mostly out of a sense of feeling uncomfortable that someone else might answer it incorrectly, or out of a desire to display my inherent wisdom and understanding of the passage of scripture or the topic at hand.
I need help.
Just a few weeks ago this scenario played out during one of our Thursday night gatherings and I share it with you now to illustrate what I mean.
We were having a wonderful dialog about the book of Job together. Someone pointed out, brilliantly I might add, that the entire point of the book of Job is found when Job utters to God, "My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen you". Although God did not appear to Job in bodily form, he had somehow "seen" God. How was that accomplished? By the sufferings he endured Job gained a powerful perspective of the fact that God is God and that Job is not. Without the suffering he endured, Job would only have "heard of" the Glory of God, but now due to the suffering, he could say he had really "seen" God's Glory. (Job 42:4-6)
At this moment, one of our members asked, "So then, is suffering the only way to see God?" If I could travel back in time, to that moment in my den, I would wrap a roll of duct tape around the mouth of the host...which is me.
What I wouldn't give to go back in time and, instead of answering that person's question for her, had turned to the group, or back to this person and asked another question like; "I don't know. What do you think?"
Wow. That would have been one very cool conversation. But it's a conversation that we will never have now because I took the opportunity to answer this volatile question all by myself.
I repent of that. I pray that I can learn from this and next time, when someone asks a question in our group like that, I will bounce it back to them and ask them what they think the answer is.
In theory I love the idea of allowing questions to breathe. I love the idea of welcoming input and dialog, even if there is the danger that someone will arrive at the wrong answer or get distracted by some misunderstanding. In reality, I am still learning to come to grips with the idea of a living question in my presence. I am still learning how to welcome such radical inquisition into my home without asking it to first submit to my so-called wisdom.
In fact, I've written articles in the past on this very topic. I've pointed out the importance of asking questions and I've criticized those in the Church who fear the question unnecessarily. Now the whole thing has come back to bite me in the butt. I suppose that's why the Word of God is sometimes referred to as a "two-edged sword".
I hope that one day I can find the inner resolve to allow questions to flourish, to breathe, to dance in my living room without being smothered by the big, fat answer I hold behind my back. I hope that God will teach me to welcome questions and to be more comfortable with allowing people to work things out for themselves.
More and more I am learning, through our house church experience, how to live out the values and the convictions I have within, in ways that I never could have in any other way.
I suppose that in the process of making disciples, we have to admit that we are also disciples who are in the process of being made.
Peas,
Keith
http://www.keithgiles.com
**
NEW JOB: Still interviewing at the moment. One at UYWI in Marketing and two possible jobs at ROCKHarbor Church. Hopefully by the next [SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND] I will have a more complete answer as to what my next job might be.
Thanks again for all your prayers and support!
**
TED HAGGARD- Not much to say on this tragedy except to suggest we all lift up our brother in prayer, and to relate a quote made by a friend the other day as we were discussing this item. He remarked at how it was possible for someone who was so close to the Fountain to go and take a drink from the dirty mud holes on the street. It was such a vivid picture, and yet we are guilty of the same sin, perhaps in smaller ways, every single day. Let all our Fountains be found in Him, and may we guard our own hearts and minds to stay focused daily on Jesus, our only Hope.
**
NEXT TIME- I have an urgent issue that I need to share with everyone next week. It's a bit of a scoop on an upcoming political agenda that might soon enter the new congress in the form of bill of sorts that would target the Church in interesting ways. Can't wait to share this in detail next time.
Until then...
peas,
keith
[END TRANSMISSION]
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Monday, November 06, 2006
PHARISEE ME
[subversive underground] PHARISEE ME by Keith Giles
A few weeks ago, my oldest son Dylan was sent to his room for talking back to his Mom. His reaction to being corrected for mistreating his younger brother David was to claim innocence and to act indignantly. He was sent to his room and told not to come back out until he could tell us what he had done that was wrong and was willing to ask for forgiveness.
After nearly twenty minutes alone in his room, he had not come back out to apologize and was still convinced that he had done nothing wrong.
If you are a parent you know this situation all too well, especially if you have more than one child in the home. Our household is no exception, however this particular situation had me thinking about what was really going on with my oldest son.
Dylan is almost eleven years old, but he's already started to act like a moody, misunderstood, dramatic teen-ager. Maybe I saw something of myself in him that particular Sunday morning?
My usual response to such obstinacy is immediate retaliation and swift punishment. I have little patience for this sort of behavior, especially since pridefulness is one of the qualities within myself that I hate most of all. However, this particular morning I decided to have mercy on my son, and to show him a little about how painful pride can be, even to yourself.
I went into my bedroom and pulled out a journal I had been keeping about a year ago. I try to keep a habit of writing down the things that God speaks to me, and the various ways that God leads our family through the challenges of life, in a regular journal. My specific hope is that, one day, my sons will read about my struggles and meandering walk of faith and take some courage for their own spiritual journey in life.
I pulled journal number two from off the shelf and began searching for an entry made about a year and a half ago. It was a detailed confession to God of my own prideful heart and it conveyed a lot of the pain that this realization created in my soul once I was aware of just how deep and sick my pride could go.
When I found it I marked the page and went in to see my son. Dylan was laying on his top bunk and facing the wall.
"Do you know what you did wrong, son?" I asked. "No," he said, "I don't know what was so wrong about what I said."
I stepped on the bottom bunk and leaned over the top rail to look at him in the eye. His face was a scowl. I realized just how much he looked like me in that moment and I felt sympathy for him.
"Dylan, do you know what you're real problem is?" He looked at me for a second and cocked his head, "No. What?"
"I think your problem is that I'm your Dad."
His eyebrows relaxed a little and he said, "What does that mean?"
"It means that your Dad has a big problem with pride and I think you've inherited that from me."
I held up the journal and asked, "Do you know what this is?"
"Is that my journal that you and Mom keep for me?"
"No, it's my journal from about a year ago. I've marked a page that I want you to read and then I want you to think about it. I want you to pray and ask God to show you if you have any pride in your own heart. If you want to come out after that and apologize to your Mom and to your brother let us know."
"Ok," he said, taking the journal out of my hand.
I left him alone to read my journal entry and went into the living room. After about ten minutes Dylan came in carrying my journal in one hand. He walked into the kitchen and gave his Mom a hug. "I'm sorry Mom," he said humbly. Wendy took him in her arms and let him know that all was forgiven. Then Dylan went over to his little brother and apologized for mistreating him. Then, at last, he turned to me and handed me my journal. "Thanks Dad," he said.
I held him for a little and told him that if he would pray and ask God to take away his prideful heart that God would do that for him. Together we said a short prayer together and then he ran off to play outside with his brother David.
Before I put the journal back on the shelf again, I flipped back to the entry and read it over again. It was a time when, totally out of the blue, God revealed to me what a Pharisee I was. I was reading "Renovation of the Heart" by Dallas Willard one evening and came across a quote from one of the Gospels where Jesus was rebuking the religious leaders of his day for being more concerned about what the people thought of them, about how they looked in the eyes of the congregation, than they were about the advancement of the Kingdom of God. Suddenly, in a split second, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the fact that, just a few days previous, I had been offended when a big-name evangelist had visited our church and how his message had been so widely celebrated by the people.
What bothered me, even angered me, about this was that I had preached this exact same message to this same church nearly a year before that. No one had applauded my great wisdom at the time. No one even seemed to notice that I had preached almost the exact same sermon an entire year before this famous evangelist did. It really burned me up inside, to be honest. I wrestled with how to handle my anger. I started thinking poorly of this evangelist, and of the congregation too.
Sitting there in my bed, leaning against my pillow, as I read the words of Jesus criticizing the Pharisees for their attention-craving attitudes about God's Word I felt the hot sting of conviction in my heart. Suddenly I could picture myself in the black robe of a Pharisee and I didn't like that image.
In that split-second of conviction, God showed me that instead of being thrilled that the people had finally heard His voice and responded to His message for them, I was more upset that I wasn't the one who got the credit for the message. If I were really concerned about the people, I would be happy for them. If I were really passionate about the message, I would be pleased that it had been received as God intended. Instead, I was angry and bitter and my feelings were hurt. Why? Because I cared more about who got the glory for the insight than I was about whether or not the people received the insight.
I remember the pain of that evening even now. Reading it again in the journal that day brought it all back to me and I had to cry out to God to help me to find the Pharisee in me so that together we might kill him.
What I realize more and more is that there really is a Pharisee in me. I catch glimpses of him now and again, and each time I do it causes me great pain because I can see how hideous my own sin really is to God. I know He loves me no matter what, and for that I am grateful. Still, the periodic reminders that I have yet to fully slay the Pharisee in me have proven painful. The Truth really does hurt.
I have to admit, the Pharisee in me still isn't quite dead yet. I have seen him lurking around a few times since that journal entry, and I suspect I will see him a few more times before I come to the end of my last journal entry. But the good thing is, God still loves me. He is still working on my heart. He will not leave me as I am, but He will one day, (Miracle of Miracles), mold me of all people into the image of His Son, Jesus.
The important thing for my family is that I come to terms with the fact that I haven't got it all figured out yet. My sons need a Father who will remember that he is also in process and be willing to humble himself so that they can see that they are not alone in the struggle to overcome the flesh and to walk in the Spirit.
God help me to be more like Jesus so that my sons can do the same.
Peace,
Keith
http://www.keithgiles.com
**
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! Yes, on Thursday, November 9th I will become a man. I will be forty years old and I will enter middle-age. Ugh!
**
NEW JOB? Maybe two new jobs? We'll see...I've got to turn in both applications this week (to the same place) and if I get either job I can promise you there will be some raise eyebrows when I announce the job and who I am working for. Trust me though, if this works out it will be totally God's hand on me and nothing more.
**
IF YOU WANT TO REPLY TO THIS EMAIL, DON'T HIT THE "REPLY" BUTTON BECAUSE I WILL NOT GET IT! Instead, email me directly at: elysiansky (at) Hotmail (dot) com
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
A few weeks ago, my oldest son Dylan was sent to his room for talking back to his Mom. His reaction to being corrected for mistreating his younger brother David was to claim innocence and to act indignantly. He was sent to his room and told not to come back out until he could tell us what he had done that was wrong and was willing to ask for forgiveness.
After nearly twenty minutes alone in his room, he had not come back out to apologize and was still convinced that he had done nothing wrong.
If you are a parent you know this situation all too well, especially if you have more than one child in the home. Our household is no exception, however this particular situation had me thinking about what was really going on with my oldest son.
Dylan is almost eleven years old, but he's already started to act like a moody, misunderstood, dramatic teen-ager. Maybe I saw something of myself in him that particular Sunday morning?
My usual response to such obstinacy is immediate retaliation and swift punishment. I have little patience for this sort of behavior, especially since pridefulness is one of the qualities within myself that I hate most of all. However, this particular morning I decided to have mercy on my son, and to show him a little about how painful pride can be, even to yourself.
I went into my bedroom and pulled out a journal I had been keeping about a year ago. I try to keep a habit of writing down the things that God speaks to me, and the various ways that God leads our family through the challenges of life, in a regular journal. My specific hope is that, one day, my sons will read about my struggles and meandering walk of faith and take some courage for their own spiritual journey in life.
I pulled journal number two from off the shelf and began searching for an entry made about a year and a half ago. It was a detailed confession to God of my own prideful heart and it conveyed a lot of the pain that this realization created in my soul once I was aware of just how deep and sick my pride could go.
When I found it I marked the page and went in to see my son. Dylan was laying on his top bunk and facing the wall.
"Do you know what you did wrong, son?" I asked. "No," he said, "I don't know what was so wrong about what I said."
I stepped on the bottom bunk and leaned over the top rail to look at him in the eye. His face was a scowl. I realized just how much he looked like me in that moment and I felt sympathy for him.
"Dylan, do you know what you're real problem is?" He looked at me for a second and cocked his head, "No. What?"
"I think your problem is that I'm your Dad."
His eyebrows relaxed a little and he said, "What does that mean?"
"It means that your Dad has a big problem with pride and I think you've inherited that from me."
I held up the journal and asked, "Do you know what this is?"
"Is that my journal that you and Mom keep for me?"
"No, it's my journal from about a year ago. I've marked a page that I want you to read and then I want you to think about it. I want you to pray and ask God to show you if you have any pride in your own heart. If you want to come out after that and apologize to your Mom and to your brother let us know."
"Ok," he said, taking the journal out of my hand.
I left him alone to read my journal entry and went into the living room. After about ten minutes Dylan came in carrying my journal in one hand. He walked into the kitchen and gave his Mom a hug. "I'm sorry Mom," he said humbly. Wendy took him in her arms and let him know that all was forgiven. Then Dylan went over to his little brother and apologized for mistreating him. Then, at last, he turned to me and handed me my journal. "Thanks Dad," he said.
I held him for a little and told him that if he would pray and ask God to take away his prideful heart that God would do that for him. Together we said a short prayer together and then he ran off to play outside with his brother David.
Before I put the journal back on the shelf again, I flipped back to the entry and read it over again. It was a time when, totally out of the blue, God revealed to me what a Pharisee I was. I was reading "Renovation of the Heart" by Dallas Willard one evening and came across a quote from one of the Gospels where Jesus was rebuking the religious leaders of his day for being more concerned about what the people thought of them, about how they looked in the eyes of the congregation, than they were about the advancement of the Kingdom of God. Suddenly, in a split second, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the fact that, just a few days previous, I had been offended when a big-name evangelist had visited our church and how his message had been so widely celebrated by the people.
What bothered me, even angered me, about this was that I had preached this exact same message to this same church nearly a year before that. No one had applauded my great wisdom at the time. No one even seemed to notice that I had preached almost the exact same sermon an entire year before this famous evangelist did. It really burned me up inside, to be honest. I wrestled with how to handle my anger. I started thinking poorly of this evangelist, and of the congregation too.
Sitting there in my bed, leaning against my pillow, as I read the words of Jesus criticizing the Pharisees for their attention-craving attitudes about God's Word I felt the hot sting of conviction in my heart. Suddenly I could picture myself in the black robe of a Pharisee and I didn't like that image.
In that split-second of conviction, God showed me that instead of being thrilled that the people had finally heard His voice and responded to His message for them, I was more upset that I wasn't the one who got the credit for the message. If I were really concerned about the people, I would be happy for them. If I were really passionate about the message, I would be pleased that it had been received as God intended. Instead, I was angry and bitter and my feelings were hurt. Why? Because I cared more about who got the glory for the insight than I was about whether or not the people received the insight.
I remember the pain of that evening even now. Reading it again in the journal that day brought it all back to me and I had to cry out to God to help me to find the Pharisee in me so that together we might kill him.
What I realize more and more is that there really is a Pharisee in me. I catch glimpses of him now and again, and each time I do it causes me great pain because I can see how hideous my own sin really is to God. I know He loves me no matter what, and for that I am grateful. Still, the periodic reminders that I have yet to fully slay the Pharisee in me have proven painful. The Truth really does hurt.
I have to admit, the Pharisee in me still isn't quite dead yet. I have seen him lurking around a few times since that journal entry, and I suspect I will see him a few more times before I come to the end of my last journal entry. But the good thing is, God still loves me. He is still working on my heart. He will not leave me as I am, but He will one day, (Miracle of Miracles), mold me of all people into the image of His Son, Jesus.
The important thing for my family is that I come to terms with the fact that I haven't got it all figured out yet. My sons need a Father who will remember that he is also in process and be willing to humble himself so that they can see that they are not alone in the struggle to overcome the flesh and to walk in the Spirit.
God help me to be more like Jesus so that my sons can do the same.
Peace,
Keith
http://www.keithgiles.com
**
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! Yes, on Thursday, November 9th I will become a man. I will be forty years old and I will enter middle-age. Ugh!
**
NEW JOB? Maybe two new jobs? We'll see...I've got to turn in both applications this week (to the same place) and if I get either job I can promise you there will be some raise eyebrows when I announce the job and who I am working for. Trust me though, if this works out it will be totally God's hand on me and nothing more.
**
IF YOU WANT TO REPLY TO THIS EMAIL, DON'T HIT THE "REPLY" BUTTON BECAUSE I WILL NOT GET IT! Instead, email me directly at: elysiansky (at) Hotmail (dot) com
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
BELIEF AND PRACTICE
**My previous newsletter prompted a bit of back and forth discussion between myself and a few other subscribers about just what I was trying to communicate. This is usually an indication that I need to write a follow-up article to further explain what I intended to communicate, and also to clarify what I did not intend to communicate.
BELIEF AND PRACTICE by Keith Giles
What does Jesus mean when he says, "…whoever believes in (me) will not perish but have eternal life"? Is he talking about doctrine and theology? I doubt it. Specifically because, when he spoke these words, the New Testament had not been written yet, in fact, it was being lived out as he spoke these words, and this is my point. I believe that what Jesus was trying to communicate in John 3:16 is the importance of living out what you say you believe, not simply saying what you believe.
One way to express this is to ask yourself what it is you do each and every day of your life. I would suggest that Jesus could be paraphrased here, and in numerous other passages, as saying, "Show me what you do, how you behave, and that is what you really believe".
Again, I'm not against doctrine and this article is not in any way attempting to suggest that doctrine and theology are useless. Far from it. In fact, what I'm saying is that your doctrine and theology are a lie if you don't act out the principles contained in your doctrine and theology.
I am also not suggesting that our actions affect our salvation, which is 100% the work of Christ and his act of sacrifice upon the cross.
Dallas Willard, one of my spiritual heroes, has a great quote about this. He says, "What you really believe about Jesus is revealed by what you do when you realize that you cannot do anything (to earn your salvation*)".
(*From the Allelon Series on Kingdom Living, linked off of my main website at www.keithgiles.com. I recommend everyone go and download all of those and listen to them carefully).
So, what do you really believe about Jesus? It's revealed in the way you live your life. It's revealed in the way you treat people. It's revealed in the way you think of yourself. It's revealed in the way you behave when you think no one is looking.
If you have really confessed and believed that Jesus is Lord, then your life will reflect that reality as you submit to the rule and reign of God in your life. It will be revealed as you search the scriptures for wisdom and in the way you apply it to your everyday life. If you have confessed it and yet continue to rule your own life as you see fit, then in reality it is you in control and not Jesus, therefore, Jesus is not Lord.
There is a wonderful passage in a book called "Follow Me" by Jan David Hettinga (which I whole-heartedly recommend) where the author relates a counseling session between himself and a dear friend who is undergoing turmoil in his life. The author listen to his friend complain about his life and then challenges him about whether or not Jesus is really in charge of his life. At first this friend is angry at him for suggesting such a thing, but then the author calmly points out every event in his life where he has blatantly followed his own lusts and desires and kept Jesus out of control.
At the end of the conversation the author asks his friend, "What would your life look like if you really gave Jesus control over everything today?" His friend is quiet for a moment and then starts to say, "I guess I’d stop drinking so much and I’d have to cancel my poker night with the guys every week. I know I’d have to be a lot nicer to my wife and spend more time with my children, etc."
The author then asks his friend if he's willing to start allowing Jesus to be the Lord of his life or not.
As I've said before, one of the greatest challenges to living in the Kingdom of God is that most of us here in America have never been presented with the Gospel that Jesus preached throughout his ministry; "Repent for the Kingdom of God is near." (Matt 4:17,Luke 4:43, Mark 1:5, Matt 9:35, etc.)
The Gospel most of us have heard all our lives is the "Repeat after me" prayer and the pronouncement of instant salvation as a free gift. We never hear the "Live after me" message that Jesus taught and our lives suffer for it.
Because the part about surrendering to Christ is left out, most of us have never thought about it very much. But Jesus talked about it all the time. It's impossible to read the Gospels and to study the words of Jesus and miss the fact that he most definitely intended for his disciples to hear his words and to put them into practice.
A. W. Tozer (another of my spiritual heroes of the faith) has a great insight into this most recent neutering of the Gospel for American consumers. He says, "a notable heresy has come into being throughout evangelical Christian circles—the widely—accepted concept that we humans can choose to accept Christ only because we need Him as Savior and that we have the right to postpone our obedience to Him as Lord as long as we want to!" (From his book "I Call It Heresy")
He goes even as far as to suggest, "that salvation apart from obedience is unknown in the sacred scriptures."
I had to come to grips with this in my own life just a few years ago. After living for over two decades as a born-again Christian, licensed and ordained into the ministry of the Gospel, I came face to face with the reality that I had misunderstood the essence of the Gospel that Jesus came and died to preach. It shook me to realize that I had been trying to follow Jesus all that time without carrying my cross and dying to my self each day. The foolish thing was that Jesus specifically told us in scripture that we cannot follow him unless we take up our cross daily.
(see Luke 14:27)
I had to repent and to start over with Jesus as my Lord and my Savior. It has been a long process where Jesus patiently and lovingly reveals this truth to me over time...and I'm still learning!
The most challenging, and life-changing, part has been the daily walk with Jesus as I attempt to learn how to actually die to myself and surrender to his perfect plan for my life.
So, it is about belief, and it's also about how we practice what we believe, and that is where the real Christian life begins.
-kg
**
THE MISSION: WEEK 4- We had our fourth Sunday morning gathering last weekend. It has been so amazing to watch people growing in their faith, ministering to one another, teaching and worshiping and praying for one another. It's so great to have people share in an equal way, as equal members of the Body of Christ, where children and adults alike can share from God's Word, pray for each other and confess their weakness in order to be encouraged and blessed. One of our members, who only recently began playing worship songs on his guitar remarked that there was no other church in town who would dare allow him to join the Sunday morning worship team, and yet in our home he's free to do as God calls him to. There is a "Mission House Church" page here if you want to read more about what God has been doing: http://subversiveone.blogspot.com
**
APOLOGY: Sorry these have been getting later and later each week. I've been swamped with house church stuff, job hunting, work and life in general has been crazy. Thanks for hanging in there with me as I try to write these each week, work on my upcoming column for Ginkworld.net and push to finish up both book projects before the end of this year. I also appreciate your prayers for me during this time as I try to hear God's voice and find the job he has next for me.
**
COMING UP: I've been sitting on a few article ideas for like two months now. Hopefully between this newsletter and the column I can hammer these out. Here’s a sneak peek at what's in the works:
*House Church 101- It's not a home group. It's not taking what happens on Sunday at the church down the street and duplicating it in your living room. So...what IS house church all about? (A look at the basics of house church)
*"I Tell You The Truth" – Jesus commanded his disciples to go into all the word preaching the Gospel, baptizing new believers as they went, and "teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you". Do you know what the commands of Jesus are? Why has the Church left this vital component out of the liturgy and teaching of disciples? How can we get it back?
*"Foreknowledge and Freewill"- Ali vs Frazier; Godzilla vs Mothra, Calvinism vs Armenism; There are few battles more heated, and hateful, than these, but why do Christians battle over the concepts of free will and predestination with such venom? Is there a sane resolution to the conflict? A Biblical response to seemingly conflicting sets of belief.
*”Grace and Works”- The resolution is alarmingly simple, and explained in a single verse of scripture, yet many Christians still don't grasp the symbiotic relationship between Grace and Works. Are the two mutually exclusive? Maybe we don't understand what Grace really is? Maybe we put too much emphasis on Works? Finding middle ground and staying there are two different things.
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
BELIEF AND PRACTICE by Keith Giles
What does Jesus mean when he says, "…whoever believes in (me) will not perish but have eternal life"? Is he talking about doctrine and theology? I doubt it. Specifically because, when he spoke these words, the New Testament had not been written yet, in fact, it was being lived out as he spoke these words, and this is my point. I believe that what Jesus was trying to communicate in John 3:16 is the importance of living out what you say you believe, not simply saying what you believe.
One way to express this is to ask yourself what it is you do each and every day of your life. I would suggest that Jesus could be paraphrased here, and in numerous other passages, as saying, "Show me what you do, how you behave, and that is what you really believe".
Again, I'm not against doctrine and this article is not in any way attempting to suggest that doctrine and theology are useless. Far from it. In fact, what I'm saying is that your doctrine and theology are a lie if you don't act out the principles contained in your doctrine and theology.
I am also not suggesting that our actions affect our salvation, which is 100% the work of Christ and his act of sacrifice upon the cross.
Dallas Willard, one of my spiritual heroes, has a great quote about this. He says, "What you really believe about Jesus is revealed by what you do when you realize that you cannot do anything (to earn your salvation*)".
(*From the Allelon Series on Kingdom Living, linked off of my main website at www.keithgiles.com. I recommend everyone go and download all of those and listen to them carefully).
So, what do you really believe about Jesus? It's revealed in the way you live your life. It's revealed in the way you treat people. It's revealed in the way you think of yourself. It's revealed in the way you behave when you think no one is looking.
If you have really confessed and believed that Jesus is Lord, then your life will reflect that reality as you submit to the rule and reign of God in your life. It will be revealed as you search the scriptures for wisdom and in the way you apply it to your everyday life. If you have confessed it and yet continue to rule your own life as you see fit, then in reality it is you in control and not Jesus, therefore, Jesus is not Lord.
There is a wonderful passage in a book called "Follow Me" by Jan David Hettinga (which I whole-heartedly recommend) where the author relates a counseling session between himself and a dear friend who is undergoing turmoil in his life. The author listen to his friend complain about his life and then challenges him about whether or not Jesus is really in charge of his life. At first this friend is angry at him for suggesting such a thing, but then the author calmly points out every event in his life where he has blatantly followed his own lusts and desires and kept Jesus out of control.
At the end of the conversation the author asks his friend, "What would your life look like if you really gave Jesus control over everything today?" His friend is quiet for a moment and then starts to say, "I guess I’d stop drinking so much and I’d have to cancel my poker night with the guys every week. I know I’d have to be a lot nicer to my wife and spend more time with my children, etc."
The author then asks his friend if he's willing to start allowing Jesus to be the Lord of his life or not.
As I've said before, one of the greatest challenges to living in the Kingdom of God is that most of us here in America have never been presented with the Gospel that Jesus preached throughout his ministry; "Repent for the Kingdom of God is near." (Matt 4:17,Luke 4:43, Mark 1:5, Matt 9:35, etc.)
The Gospel most of us have heard all our lives is the "Repeat after me" prayer and the pronouncement of instant salvation as a free gift. We never hear the "Live after me" message that Jesus taught and our lives suffer for it.
Because the part about surrendering to Christ is left out, most of us have never thought about it very much. But Jesus talked about it all the time. It's impossible to read the Gospels and to study the words of Jesus and miss the fact that he most definitely intended for his disciples to hear his words and to put them into practice.
A. W. Tozer (another of my spiritual heroes of the faith) has a great insight into this most recent neutering of the Gospel for American consumers. He says, "a notable heresy has come into being throughout evangelical Christian circles—the widely—accepted concept that we humans can choose to accept Christ only because we need Him as Savior and that we have the right to postpone our obedience to Him as Lord as long as we want to!" (From his book "I Call It Heresy")
He goes even as far as to suggest, "that salvation apart from obedience is unknown in the sacred scriptures."
I had to come to grips with this in my own life just a few years ago. After living for over two decades as a born-again Christian, licensed and ordained into the ministry of the Gospel, I came face to face with the reality that I had misunderstood the essence of the Gospel that Jesus came and died to preach. It shook me to realize that I had been trying to follow Jesus all that time without carrying my cross and dying to my self each day. The foolish thing was that Jesus specifically told us in scripture that we cannot follow him unless we take up our cross daily.
(see Luke 14:27)
I had to repent and to start over with Jesus as my Lord and my Savior. It has been a long process where Jesus patiently and lovingly reveals this truth to me over time...and I'm still learning!
The most challenging, and life-changing, part has been the daily walk with Jesus as I attempt to learn how to actually die to myself and surrender to his perfect plan for my life.
So, it is about belief, and it's also about how we practice what we believe, and that is where the real Christian life begins.
-kg
**
THE MISSION: WEEK 4- We had our fourth Sunday morning gathering last weekend. It has been so amazing to watch people growing in their faith, ministering to one another, teaching and worshiping and praying for one another. It's so great to have people share in an equal way, as equal members of the Body of Christ, where children and adults alike can share from God's Word, pray for each other and confess their weakness in order to be encouraged and blessed. One of our members, who only recently began playing worship songs on his guitar remarked that there was no other church in town who would dare allow him to join the Sunday morning worship team, and yet in our home he's free to do as God calls him to. There is a "Mission House Church" page here if you want to read more about what God has been doing: http://subversiveone.blogspot.com
**
APOLOGY: Sorry these have been getting later and later each week. I've been swamped with house church stuff, job hunting, work and life in general has been crazy. Thanks for hanging in there with me as I try to write these each week, work on my upcoming column for Ginkworld.net and push to finish up both book projects before the end of this year. I also appreciate your prayers for me during this time as I try to hear God's voice and find the job he has next for me.
**
COMING UP: I've been sitting on a few article ideas for like two months now. Hopefully between this newsletter and the column I can hammer these out. Here’s a sneak peek at what's in the works:
*House Church 101- It's not a home group. It's not taking what happens on Sunday at the church down the street and duplicating it in your living room. So...what IS house church all about? (A look at the basics of house church)
*"I Tell You The Truth" – Jesus commanded his disciples to go into all the word preaching the Gospel, baptizing new believers as they went, and "teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you". Do you know what the commands of Jesus are? Why has the Church left this vital component out of the liturgy and teaching of disciples? How can we get it back?
*"Foreknowledge and Freewill"- Ali vs Frazier; Godzilla vs Mothra, Calvinism vs Armenism; There are few battles more heated, and hateful, than these, but why do Christians battle over the concepts of free will and predestination with such venom? Is there a sane resolution to the conflict? A Biblical response to seemingly conflicting sets of belief.
*”Grace and Works”- The resolution is alarmingly simple, and explained in a single verse of scripture, yet many Christians still don't grasp the symbiotic relationship between Grace and Works. Are the two mutually exclusive? Maybe we don't understand what Grace really is? Maybe we put too much emphasis on Works? Finding middle ground and staying there are two different things.
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
Monday, October 23, 2006
Practice and Belief
Practice and Belief
by Keith Giles
In the early church, the Christian faith was defined more by practice, not by doctrine. Islam, Judaism and the early Christians were all defined by what they did (practice) more so than a set of doctrines or beliefs. Jews kept the Sabbath. Muslims prayed several times a day, Christians gave to the poor. Faith was seen as a way of life, not a list of beliefs.
It was only after Constantine that the Church began to shift towards defining a Christian as someone who held to a set of beliefs and away from a person who lived a certain way. Mainly this was so that Constantine could have Christian soldiers who would profess Christ and still sign up to slay their enemies in combat. Previous to this, Christians were notoriously pascifists and went to their deaths when confronted rather than to take up a sword and defend themselves.
In our current culture, being a Christian is still understood as being more about having the right belief and less about having the character of Christ and practicing the faith.
A simple reading of the Gospels will reveal that Jesus expected that His disciples would obey His teachings. He was quite adamant that to call Him "Lord" wasn't enough if you weren't going to actually put His words into practice. (see Luke 6:46, Matt 7:21, John 14:23, etc.)
The book of James makes it clear that belief alone is not enough. "You believe that there is one God? Good! Even the demons believe and they shake with fear." (James 2:19) The passage goes on to point out how Abraham's faith was demonstrated by his actions. "You see that his faith and his actions were working together and his faith was made complete by what he did." (James 2:22). The most stunning statement in James is in verse 24 where he says, "You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."
Whoa. Let that sink in for a moment.
Faith (belief) has to be accompanied by action (practice) in order for your faith to be justified (proven true).
My simple paraphrase of this goes like, "Swimming won’t make you a fish; but if you are a fish you will swim." So, if you do good works in order to be saved you’re wasting your time. However, if you have truly become a new creation through a relationship with Jesus, you will become the sort of person who does good works by nature.
So, in the mind of the earliest disciples of Jesus, following Him was all about practice, not simply agreeing with a doctrine or belief. Trusting in Jesus is about obedience, submission and relationship, not cerebral acknowledgement or knowledge.
My concern is for those people out there who are placing a false hope in a statement of faith in Jesus who have never actually surrendered their life to Christ as the Lord of their life.
I'm also concerned that our world is full of people who walk around proclaiming themselves to be Christians yet live any way they want; in complete oppostion to the words of Jesus.
"Now this is eternal life: that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." – JESUS (John 17:3)
The kind of knowledge Jesus is speaking of here corresponds with the idea of intimacy. In fact, it's closer to the word for sexual interaction. This is the kind of knowledge that conceives new life.
This is the kind of intimate knowledge of God and of Jesus we are meant to have.
Knowing stuff about Jesus is not the same as knowing Jesus. I could know all about Shaquille O'Neil but still not know him as a person. My knowledge of him would not mean that Shaq and I are friends. In the same way, it's possible for you and I to become experts on Bible Trivia about Jesus and still not really "know" Jesus personally.
A few months ago a friend of mine stood in my house and shared with me a story about someone who they were hoping would become a Christian. "If I can just get them to say they believe in Jesus, they’re saved," the person said.
We had an interesting discussion out of that statement, but what really kept gnawing on me was the mindset that my friend had, and that I observe that many others have, when it comes to the question of Salvation. Specifically, I think it has to do with what we believe it really means to be a Christian.
Obviously, my friend would say that to be a Christian is to say that you believe in Jesus. Maybe you don't even have to really do anything else except say it out loud, like a magic word, and then God has no choice but to let you into heaven. I have to question this line of reasoning.
I know that many Christians believe that all you have to do to get into Heaven is to repeat a prayer, believe that Jesus was real and make plans for the afterlife. But is that really what the Scriptures teach about what it means to inherit Eternal Life? Is that really what it means to be a Christian?
In scripture, and historically, the word "Christian" came from the followers in Antioch who were called such because they were so much like Jesus that the pagans around them called them "little Christ's" or, literally, "Christ-ians". The name doesn't mean what it used to mean in our society today.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life"- Jesus (John 3:16)
What does Jesus intend to teach here? I think it all hangs on how you understand his use of the word "Believes". If you think Jesus meant "to think that Jesus was an historical person", or even "to accept that Jesus was the Messiah", you’d be missing the real point.
In the actual passage, Jesus is having a conversation with a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus. In the conversation Jesus is not asking Nicodemus to believe that Jesus is standing there. Obviously Nicodemus believed Jesus was real and alive, they were having an active conversation together. So, to "believe" in Jesus is more than mental knowledge or acceptance of a series of facts as being true.
What does the Bible mean when it says, "Believe" or "Know"? Many would tell us that this means simply accepting as factual or having the knowledge of something as being true. If this is what Jesus and Paul meant in these verses, then this would be the correct interpretation of these passages. But this is absolutely not what Jesus or Paul meant by the words "Believe" and "Know", therefore our understanding of these passages is seriously flawed and we have to take another look at what is really being said here.
One main clue as to what Jesus meant is to look up the passage in the Greek. The actual phrasing used in most cases is actually; "Believe into the Son" which suggests placing faith or trust for your life into the hands of Jesus. The best example of this is the Greek rendering of John 3:36 which says, "The one believing into the Son has everlasting life, but the one disobeying the Son will not see life..." Again, the choices are to obey/believe or to reject/disobey. Belief, then, is more about obedience and practice, not doctrine divorced from a way of life.
Many people quote Romans 10: 9-10 which says, "That if you confess with your mouth that 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Again, it is not the act of saying "Jesus is Lord," it’s very much about actually living like someone who is surrendered to Jesus and being someone who actually makes Jesus their Lord. It is not about saying a magic word in order to get a ticket to heaven.
I'm not suggesting that doctrine and belief are unnecessary. In fact, I feel that doctrine is quite important. But by itself it's not enough. What we need is Jesus.
Maybe what we need is to have a reinterpretation of what it means to believe? Better yet, perhaps we should simply take Jesus at his word and begin to do what he says?
I would love for the day to come when people can tell whether or not someone is a follower of Jesus by the way they practice the Jesus way of life.
Let's do our best to encourage one another to follow Jesus in this way.
"If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching...he who does not love me will not obey my teaching." – JESUS (John 14:23-24)
-kg
***
JOB TRAIL: Still on the hunt for a full-time job. So far God has closed a lot of doors. He’s provided miraculously for us since the end of June. He has been faithful to us in the midst of uncertainty. I appreciate your prayers for me and for my family during this time.
***
NEW COLUMN: My new regular column, "SUBVERSIVE", will begin over at www.ginkworld.net as soon as the final installment of the "Gospel: For Here Or To Go?" series is done. (Which should go up this week, I believe). Watch for more details soon. I'd appreciate it if you could all come by and leave a comment, etc. once the articles are posted. It would really encourage me.
***
THE MISSION: Our third Sunday Morning house church service was the last weekend. I am so excited about what God is doing in each of our lives. This is seriously the best thing I've ever done in my life with the word "Church" on it!
***
HAPPY 50TH TRANSMISSION!
According to my post counter this is post number 50. Wow. I can't believe I've been doing this for like, fifty weeks! And they said it wouldn't last...
***
[END TRANSMISSION]
by Keith Giles
In the early church, the Christian faith was defined more by practice, not by doctrine. Islam, Judaism and the early Christians were all defined by what they did (practice) more so than a set of doctrines or beliefs. Jews kept the Sabbath. Muslims prayed several times a day, Christians gave to the poor. Faith was seen as a way of life, not a list of beliefs.
It was only after Constantine that the Church began to shift towards defining a Christian as someone who held to a set of beliefs and away from a person who lived a certain way. Mainly this was so that Constantine could have Christian soldiers who would profess Christ and still sign up to slay their enemies in combat. Previous to this, Christians were notoriously pascifists and went to their deaths when confronted rather than to take up a sword and defend themselves.
In our current culture, being a Christian is still understood as being more about having the right belief and less about having the character of Christ and practicing the faith.
A simple reading of the Gospels will reveal that Jesus expected that His disciples would obey His teachings. He was quite adamant that to call Him "Lord" wasn't enough if you weren't going to actually put His words into practice. (see Luke 6:46, Matt 7:21, John 14:23, etc.)
The book of James makes it clear that belief alone is not enough. "You believe that there is one God? Good! Even the demons believe and they shake with fear." (James 2:19) The passage goes on to point out how Abraham's faith was demonstrated by his actions. "You see that his faith and his actions were working together and his faith was made complete by what he did." (James 2:22). The most stunning statement in James is in verse 24 where he says, "You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."
Whoa. Let that sink in for a moment.
Faith (belief) has to be accompanied by action (practice) in order for your faith to be justified (proven true).
My simple paraphrase of this goes like, "Swimming won’t make you a fish; but if you are a fish you will swim." So, if you do good works in order to be saved you’re wasting your time. However, if you have truly become a new creation through a relationship with Jesus, you will become the sort of person who does good works by nature.
So, in the mind of the earliest disciples of Jesus, following Him was all about practice, not simply agreeing with a doctrine or belief. Trusting in Jesus is about obedience, submission and relationship, not cerebral acknowledgement or knowledge.
My concern is for those people out there who are placing a false hope in a statement of faith in Jesus who have never actually surrendered their life to Christ as the Lord of their life.
I'm also concerned that our world is full of people who walk around proclaiming themselves to be Christians yet live any way they want; in complete oppostion to the words of Jesus.
"Now this is eternal life: that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." – JESUS (John 17:3)
The kind of knowledge Jesus is speaking of here corresponds with the idea of intimacy. In fact, it's closer to the word for sexual interaction. This is the kind of knowledge that conceives new life.
This is the kind of intimate knowledge of God and of Jesus we are meant to have.
Knowing stuff about Jesus is not the same as knowing Jesus. I could know all about Shaquille O'Neil but still not know him as a person. My knowledge of him would not mean that Shaq and I are friends. In the same way, it's possible for you and I to become experts on Bible Trivia about Jesus and still not really "know" Jesus personally.
A few months ago a friend of mine stood in my house and shared with me a story about someone who they were hoping would become a Christian. "If I can just get them to say they believe in Jesus, they’re saved," the person said.
We had an interesting discussion out of that statement, but what really kept gnawing on me was the mindset that my friend had, and that I observe that many others have, when it comes to the question of Salvation. Specifically, I think it has to do with what we believe it really means to be a Christian.
Obviously, my friend would say that to be a Christian is to say that you believe in Jesus. Maybe you don't even have to really do anything else except say it out loud, like a magic word, and then God has no choice but to let you into heaven. I have to question this line of reasoning.
I know that many Christians believe that all you have to do to get into Heaven is to repeat a prayer, believe that Jesus was real and make plans for the afterlife. But is that really what the Scriptures teach about what it means to inherit Eternal Life? Is that really what it means to be a Christian?
In scripture, and historically, the word "Christian" came from the followers in Antioch who were called such because they were so much like Jesus that the pagans around them called them "little Christ's" or, literally, "Christ-ians". The name doesn't mean what it used to mean in our society today.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life"- Jesus (John 3:16)
What does Jesus intend to teach here? I think it all hangs on how you understand his use of the word "Believes". If you think Jesus meant "to think that Jesus was an historical person", or even "to accept that Jesus was the Messiah", you’d be missing the real point.
In the actual passage, Jesus is having a conversation with a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus. In the conversation Jesus is not asking Nicodemus to believe that Jesus is standing there. Obviously Nicodemus believed Jesus was real and alive, they were having an active conversation together. So, to "believe" in Jesus is more than mental knowledge or acceptance of a series of facts as being true.
What does the Bible mean when it says, "Believe" or "Know"? Many would tell us that this means simply accepting as factual or having the knowledge of something as being true. If this is what Jesus and Paul meant in these verses, then this would be the correct interpretation of these passages. But this is absolutely not what Jesus or Paul meant by the words "Believe" and "Know", therefore our understanding of these passages is seriously flawed and we have to take another look at what is really being said here.
One main clue as to what Jesus meant is to look up the passage in the Greek. The actual phrasing used in most cases is actually; "Believe into the Son" which suggests placing faith or trust for your life into the hands of Jesus. The best example of this is the Greek rendering of John 3:36 which says, "The one believing into the Son has everlasting life, but the one disobeying the Son will not see life..." Again, the choices are to obey/believe or to reject/disobey. Belief, then, is more about obedience and practice, not doctrine divorced from a way of life.
Many people quote Romans 10: 9-10 which says, "That if you confess with your mouth that 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Again, it is not the act of saying "Jesus is Lord," it’s very much about actually living like someone who is surrendered to Jesus and being someone who actually makes Jesus their Lord. It is not about saying a magic word in order to get a ticket to heaven.
I'm not suggesting that doctrine and belief are unnecessary. In fact, I feel that doctrine is quite important. But by itself it's not enough. What we need is Jesus.
Maybe what we need is to have a reinterpretation of what it means to believe? Better yet, perhaps we should simply take Jesus at his word and begin to do what he says?
I would love for the day to come when people can tell whether or not someone is a follower of Jesus by the way they practice the Jesus way of life.
Let's do our best to encourage one another to follow Jesus in this way.
"If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching...he who does not love me will not obey my teaching." – JESUS (John 14:23-24)
-kg
***
JOB TRAIL: Still on the hunt for a full-time job. So far God has closed a lot of doors. He’s provided miraculously for us since the end of June. He has been faithful to us in the midst of uncertainty. I appreciate your prayers for me and for my family during this time.
***
NEW COLUMN: My new regular column, "SUBVERSIVE", will begin over at www.ginkworld.net as soon as the final installment of the "Gospel: For Here Or To Go?" series is done. (Which should go up this week, I believe). Watch for more details soon. I'd appreciate it if you could all come by and leave a comment, etc. once the articles are posted. It would really encourage me.
***
THE MISSION: Our third Sunday Morning house church service was the last weekend. I am so excited about what God is doing in each of our lives. This is seriously the best thing I've ever done in my life with the word "Church" on it!
***
HAPPY 50TH TRANSMISSION!
According to my post counter this is post number 50. Wow. I can't believe I've been doing this for like, fifty weeks! And they said it wouldn't last...
***
[END TRANSMISSION]
Monday, October 16, 2006
DEFINITION by Keith Giles
DEFINITION by Keith Giles
It's always exciting for me to learn something new, especially when what you learn is something more about who you are as a person.
As an early birthday present to myself (I turn 40 next month) I bought myself the book, "U2 by U2". It's a fascinating, inspirational, and surprisingly moving account of the life of the band that is U2, as written in their own words.
I've never read any of the other books about U2 before, but this one really caught my attention, especially since it was a complete history of the band from inception to current events, told by the four members themselves.
Whether or not you agree with me that U2 is the greatest band in the history of rock and roll (I do realize that taste in music is subjective), you would hopefully agree that no other band has had such an impact on music, culture, politics, art, and faith as they have.
There are several astonishing quotes and stories in this book, but one that spoke to me the other day was a comment made by Bono regarding his fascination with people like Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. He admitted that his attraction to them was largely due to the fact that they were all such men of peace and he knew that deep inside he was a man of violence and anger. He was attracted to these men because they embodied virtues that he himself lacked.
That started me thinking. I have a friend who is always pounding the table about the lack of virtue in modern society. He is quite eloquent in the discussion of character and morality. Yet I've observed that this person is not really the moral giant one might assume he is, based on his passion and his convictions. I realized that, perhaps my friend is so obsessed with the issue of character and morality because deep down inside he realizes that he has a flaw in this area.
As my wife and I were discussing this, she admitted that she finds people who are quiet and patient to be quite fascinating, specifically because she knows that she lacks patience and can sometimes find herself talking very loud without realizing it. She is not a quiet person, although she loves the quiet. I am often asked to switch off the cd player in the car so that she can enjoy a moment of peace.
All this made me realize that I myself have an attraction to people who have a compassionate, servant's heart because I know that inside I can be a desperately selfish and self-centered person.
As an only child, I suppose I didn't have much of a chance of not being self-centered growing up. I enjoyed being an only child, especially because it meant that I got everything I wanted for my birthday and for Christmas. I never had to sacrifice my wants for a sister or a brother. Usually, if I want something, one way or the other, I will find a way to get it.
It's quite interesting to discover that my passion for serving others is rooted in the repulsion I have for my own selfishness. In some paradoxical way, if I weren't so sick of my own selfish heart, I would probably never have developed a heart for others.
My attraction to people with an outward focus is part of the reason I married Wendy. When we were first getting to know each other, in college, there was a time when we walked down to a nursing home to visit some people there. In all honesty, I was only going along because she was going and it gave me the chance to hang out with her.
I remember we walked up to the door of the nursing home and I instinctively rushed past an old woman in a wheel chair who was sitting outside the door, heading straight in to do my good deed for the day. However, when I grabbed the front door and stood there holding it open for Wendy (to show her what a gentleman I could be), I realized that she wasn't there. I turned around and I saw her, down on her knees, looking into this woman's eyes with genuine love and compassion. She smiled at her and gave her a big, warm hug as I stood frozen in place, holding open that door for no one.
In that moment I knew that I loved this girl. I had never witnessed such simple, sincere compassion in my life before. I wanted to know how she could do that. I wanted to know what it would take for my heart to be so changed that I would also love others this way.
Maybe that's why, after seventeen years of marriage, I am a different person than I was in college. All I know is that, over the years, my heart for others has been radically changed by my relationship with Wendy. I have also been eager to learn from people like David Ruis, Greg Russinger, Jackie Pullinger, and several others, about what it really means to live a life of love and selfless giving.
I know I still have a long way to go in this area. I am still a student of compassion and a large part of my walk with Jesus is wrapped up in discovering how I can be, like Him, a loving, compassionate person who is more interested in serving than in being served.
I've not yet fully realized my desire to become, like Jesus, the servant of all, but I do know that there is a part of me I wish were not there. I wish I had come "out of the box" as a more giving, sharing, compassionate person. This is the part of me that I have to work on, and the great thing is, somehow, at the end of my life, by the Grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, I will be like Jesus.
Until that day, I'm glad I have a wife like Wendy.
kg
**
NEW REGULAR COLUMN: As soon as the six-part series "The Gospel: For Here Or To Go?" is complete over at www.ginkworld.net, my regular column called "SUBVERSIVE" will continue running in the same slot on the front page. So, now this will mean I will have to provide content for this weekly e-newsletter, the column, plus my website. I am an over-achiever.
**
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: Wendy and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary this past weekend (hence the lateness of this article). I'm not sure how I convinced her to marry me, but I'm holding on until the last! Any of you who know her can verify that she's the best thing that ever happened to me.
**
JOB UPDATE: No major news yet. I'm interviewing with Joey O'Conner on Friday about The Grove Center for the Arts possibility. I've got a call tomorrow with a guy who needs a dispatcher for his heavy equipment rental business (yeah...I'm not sure that's the one either....but I'm trying to be open to whatever God might be doing). I'm also hopeful about a possible job helping a local church lead their congregation into a more missional lifestyle. That one could work out, although it could just as easily be nothing.
Thanks, again, to everyone who has been praying for us. I know that God will lead us through this time.
-kg
**
*to reply to this email, do NOT hit "reply" because I WILL NOT get it. Instead, send your email to me directly at "elysiansky (at) hotmail (dot) com".
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
It's always exciting for me to learn something new, especially when what you learn is something more about who you are as a person.
As an early birthday present to myself (I turn 40 next month) I bought myself the book, "U2 by U2". It's a fascinating, inspirational, and surprisingly moving account of the life of the band that is U2, as written in their own words.
I've never read any of the other books about U2 before, but this one really caught my attention, especially since it was a complete history of the band from inception to current events, told by the four members themselves.
Whether or not you agree with me that U2 is the greatest band in the history of rock and roll (I do realize that taste in music is subjective), you would hopefully agree that no other band has had such an impact on music, culture, politics, art, and faith as they have.
There are several astonishing quotes and stories in this book, but one that spoke to me the other day was a comment made by Bono regarding his fascination with people like Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. He admitted that his attraction to them was largely due to the fact that they were all such men of peace and he knew that deep inside he was a man of violence and anger. He was attracted to these men because they embodied virtues that he himself lacked.
That started me thinking. I have a friend who is always pounding the table about the lack of virtue in modern society. He is quite eloquent in the discussion of character and morality. Yet I've observed that this person is not really the moral giant one might assume he is, based on his passion and his convictions. I realized that, perhaps my friend is so obsessed with the issue of character and morality because deep down inside he realizes that he has a flaw in this area.
As my wife and I were discussing this, she admitted that she finds people who are quiet and patient to be quite fascinating, specifically because she knows that she lacks patience and can sometimes find herself talking very loud without realizing it. She is not a quiet person, although she loves the quiet. I am often asked to switch off the cd player in the car so that she can enjoy a moment of peace.
All this made me realize that I myself have an attraction to people who have a compassionate, servant's heart because I know that inside I can be a desperately selfish and self-centered person.
As an only child, I suppose I didn't have much of a chance of not being self-centered growing up. I enjoyed being an only child, especially because it meant that I got everything I wanted for my birthday and for Christmas. I never had to sacrifice my wants for a sister or a brother. Usually, if I want something, one way or the other, I will find a way to get it.
It's quite interesting to discover that my passion for serving others is rooted in the repulsion I have for my own selfishness. In some paradoxical way, if I weren't so sick of my own selfish heart, I would probably never have developed a heart for others.
My attraction to people with an outward focus is part of the reason I married Wendy. When we were first getting to know each other, in college, there was a time when we walked down to a nursing home to visit some people there. In all honesty, I was only going along because she was going and it gave me the chance to hang out with her.
I remember we walked up to the door of the nursing home and I instinctively rushed past an old woman in a wheel chair who was sitting outside the door, heading straight in to do my good deed for the day. However, when I grabbed the front door and stood there holding it open for Wendy (to show her what a gentleman I could be), I realized that she wasn't there. I turned around and I saw her, down on her knees, looking into this woman's eyes with genuine love and compassion. She smiled at her and gave her a big, warm hug as I stood frozen in place, holding open that door for no one.
In that moment I knew that I loved this girl. I had never witnessed such simple, sincere compassion in my life before. I wanted to know how she could do that. I wanted to know what it would take for my heart to be so changed that I would also love others this way.
Maybe that's why, after seventeen years of marriage, I am a different person than I was in college. All I know is that, over the years, my heart for others has been radically changed by my relationship with Wendy. I have also been eager to learn from people like David Ruis, Greg Russinger, Jackie Pullinger, and several others, about what it really means to live a life of love and selfless giving.
I know I still have a long way to go in this area. I am still a student of compassion and a large part of my walk with Jesus is wrapped up in discovering how I can be, like Him, a loving, compassionate person who is more interested in serving than in being served.
I've not yet fully realized my desire to become, like Jesus, the servant of all, but I do know that there is a part of me I wish were not there. I wish I had come "out of the box" as a more giving, sharing, compassionate person. This is the part of me that I have to work on, and the great thing is, somehow, at the end of my life, by the Grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, I will be like Jesus.
Until that day, I'm glad I have a wife like Wendy.
kg
**
NEW REGULAR COLUMN: As soon as the six-part series "The Gospel: For Here Or To Go?" is complete over at www.ginkworld.net, my regular column called "SUBVERSIVE" will continue running in the same slot on the front page. So, now this will mean I will have to provide content for this weekly e-newsletter, the column, plus my website. I am an over-achiever.
**
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: Wendy and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary this past weekend (hence the lateness of this article). I'm not sure how I convinced her to marry me, but I'm holding on until the last! Any of you who know her can verify that she's the best thing that ever happened to me.
**
JOB UPDATE: No major news yet. I'm interviewing with Joey O'Conner on Friday about The Grove Center for the Arts possibility. I've got a call tomorrow with a guy who needs a dispatcher for his heavy equipment rental business (yeah...I'm not sure that's the one either....but I'm trying to be open to whatever God might be doing). I'm also hopeful about a possible job helping a local church lead their congregation into a more missional lifestyle. That one could work out, although it could just as easily be nothing.
Thanks, again, to everyone who has been praying for us. I know that God will lead us through this time.
-kg
**
*to reply to this email, do NOT hit "reply" because I WILL NOT get it. Instead, send your email to me directly at "elysiansky (at) hotmail (dot) com".
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Notes From The Edge
Notes From The Edge by Keith Giles
When I pulled up and parked in front of the Deseret Bookstore, I felt a bit of fear. Not unlike the fear I imagine a covert agent must feel before he enters a building in order to gather intelligence. As I passed through the front door I felt a tingle run up my spine, as if I had just passed the hostile roadblock into the evil empire undetected. Why? Because this bookstore was unlike any other bookstore you've ever been inside.
This was a Mormon Bookstore.
I tried to act casual and browse the aisles without looking too conspicuous. The last thing I wanted was for one of the salespeople to notice me and think I needed some help finding the "Pearl Of Great Price" in a leather edition, or maybe ask me if I wanted a Joseph Smith bumper sticker for my car.
I wondered if everyone I saw inside was a Mormon or if some were, like me, just curiosity-seekers. Perhaps some of them were simply oblivious to the fact that this was a Mormon-themed store. At any rate, I was not comfortable here. No one smiled at me or noticed me. I felt like an outsider and an intruder into their little world. Which, to be fair, I was.
On a whim I had decided to explore this Mormon-themed retail store. It happened to be in the same strip mall as the pizza place where I had ordered our family dinner and while our pie was in the oven I thought it might be interesting to see how the other side lived.
The inside was not unlike any mainline Christian store you’ve ever been in. There were rows of large, hardcover books that were written by various authors that you and I have never heard of, but that the average Mormon might recognize if he or she heard the names. The titles ranged from the devotional variety to fiction. (Mormon fiction?!) I was especially puzzled and even saddened to see a large section of paintings that depicted a laughing and loving Jesus. “Wow,” I thought, “How sad to offer pictures of Jesus for sale without offering any true concept of who Jesus really is.”
I soon found my way to the music section, as I usually do wherever I go, and was amazed to see a large wall covered with Cd’s and tapes. Yes. Cassette Tapes.
Except for that Amy Grant display on one shelf, most of the musical offerings were hymns collections performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. There were some “rock” offerings too, which surprised me. Most of these were packaged like early eighties new wave projects and had names like “Elemenopee” and “Chris Savage and the Rock-Tones”. I was not too impressed. This was, after all, just a sad imitation of what mainline Christian bookstores across America have to offer.
I immediately realized that this was probably what most non-Christians would feel should they venture into one of our Christian Bookstores. I had to ponder if we in the Christian World came across as irrelevant and as derivative as our Mormon counterparts. Most of what I saw in this cult music section was a laughably pathetic rip-off of what I could purchase at my local Christian store. It had the look and feel of the real stuff but was obviously an imitation of the real thing.
It kind of made me scrutinize the whole Secular versus Christian bookstore dichotomy from a similar perspective.
I can’t help but feel a little saddened by the fact that most Christian Art (and especially Christian Music), is nothing more than a pale imitation of what the world is doing.
Just the other day some friends and I were standing around and we overhead the local Christian Radio Station blasting out of a nearby car. They were playing a remake of a popular secular called “Love Is The Answer” but adding the words “Jesus” and “Lord” here and there to sanctify it for our righteous ears.
It made me want to puke.
Why can’t the art and music of the Christian Culture be different? Even if it were just weird for the sake of being weird, I’d prefer this to the “sounds-like” comparisons of most music and art in the Christian Marketplace today.
I once interviewed Mark Saloman from the band Stavesacre and he had an amazing insight regarding this. He noted that, “…the world creates music and art from a fleshly and vain pool of inspiration. Whereas we, the sons of God, have a unique relationship and connection to the very Creator of the entire Universe. Why shouldn’t the World be following us? Why are we the ones who are following them?”
That’s a great question.
Why are we the ones who are following them?
For over seven years I worked in the Christian Music Industry. I still have friends who are part of the CCM Machine and most of them are great, Godly people who are doing their best to change the system from within. But, sadly, at the end of the day, the Christian Music Industry is still a business and the bottom line is selling product, not ministry.
Why is it easier to copy what someone else is doing and “Christianize” it? Maybe because it’s much more difficult to take the time to submit your craft to God, allow the Holy Spirit to work through your talent to create something that may, or may not, be acceptable to the mainstream audience.
The problem is, sometimes the Truth is offensive. Sometimes the one’s most offended are the people who are supposed to be your brothers and sisters. If you’re supposed to be a “Christian Artist”, and especially if you’re trying to make a living at it, the last thing you’d ever want to do is to offend anyone.
What the world needs now is a new wave of true artists. Those who are more committed to using their talents to communicate a burning truth that sears the soul, rather than those who simply want to spread their own fame.
People like Derek Webb, Jars of Clay, Switchfoot and Over The Rhine come to mind. Artists who create what is sincere and true have more interesting things to say than those who are simply trying to sell us something.
Maybe the real problem is when we try to make a buck off of the Truth? I think maybe loving people and living out the Gospel should never get confused with commerce.
What do you think?
“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”- Isaiah 6:8 (KJV)
**
FIRST SUNDAY: Today we had our very first Sunday Morning house church meeting. I am so excited about the way God has been leading this. It's truly something that He is doing, not me. In fact, the more I take my hands off of it, the better it goes. Please continue to pray for us as we seek His leadership and begin to pray about taking our church outside into the parks and open air of the community around us.
**
MAN OF GOD: Tonight our family participated in a "Right of Passage" for a young man in our "Mission" house church who is turning 13. It was such a blessing to celebrate this with everyone and to speak into his life, sharing with his family and acknowledging the hand of God in his development. Here's to Jacob Wright. A young man who has a heart for people, a divine, spiritual gift of evangelism and a small army of people who believe in him and support him in his walk with Jesus. Welcome to manhood Jacob. We're proud of you!
**
IN PROCESS: Working on several articles at the moment. Too busy to thumbnail them here, but watch your "inbox" for a few goodies soon.
**
THANK YOU: So many of you have emailed me to let me know you've been standing with me and my family in prayer as I search for a new full-time job. I know that God will show us His plans very soon and I look forward to sharing with all of you what He will do in our lives because of your faithfulness to pray and to stand with us during this time.
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
When I pulled up and parked in front of the Deseret Bookstore, I felt a bit of fear. Not unlike the fear I imagine a covert agent must feel before he enters a building in order to gather intelligence. As I passed through the front door I felt a tingle run up my spine, as if I had just passed the hostile roadblock into the evil empire undetected. Why? Because this bookstore was unlike any other bookstore you've ever been inside.
This was a Mormon Bookstore.
I tried to act casual and browse the aisles without looking too conspicuous. The last thing I wanted was for one of the salespeople to notice me and think I needed some help finding the "Pearl Of Great Price" in a leather edition, or maybe ask me if I wanted a Joseph Smith bumper sticker for my car.
I wondered if everyone I saw inside was a Mormon or if some were, like me, just curiosity-seekers. Perhaps some of them were simply oblivious to the fact that this was a Mormon-themed store. At any rate, I was not comfortable here. No one smiled at me or noticed me. I felt like an outsider and an intruder into their little world. Which, to be fair, I was.
On a whim I had decided to explore this Mormon-themed retail store. It happened to be in the same strip mall as the pizza place where I had ordered our family dinner and while our pie was in the oven I thought it might be interesting to see how the other side lived.
The inside was not unlike any mainline Christian store you’ve ever been in. There were rows of large, hardcover books that were written by various authors that you and I have never heard of, but that the average Mormon might recognize if he or she heard the names. The titles ranged from the devotional variety to fiction. (Mormon fiction?!) I was especially puzzled and even saddened to see a large section of paintings that depicted a laughing and loving Jesus. “Wow,” I thought, “How sad to offer pictures of Jesus for sale without offering any true concept of who Jesus really is.”
I soon found my way to the music section, as I usually do wherever I go, and was amazed to see a large wall covered with Cd’s and tapes. Yes. Cassette Tapes.
Except for that Amy Grant display on one shelf, most of the musical offerings were hymns collections performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. There were some “rock” offerings too, which surprised me. Most of these were packaged like early eighties new wave projects and had names like “Elemenopee” and “Chris Savage and the Rock-Tones”. I was not too impressed. This was, after all, just a sad imitation of what mainline Christian bookstores across America have to offer.
I immediately realized that this was probably what most non-Christians would feel should they venture into one of our Christian Bookstores. I had to ponder if we in the Christian World came across as irrelevant and as derivative as our Mormon counterparts. Most of what I saw in this cult music section was a laughably pathetic rip-off of what I could purchase at my local Christian store. It had the look and feel of the real stuff but was obviously an imitation of the real thing.
It kind of made me scrutinize the whole Secular versus Christian bookstore dichotomy from a similar perspective.
I can’t help but feel a little saddened by the fact that most Christian Art (and especially Christian Music), is nothing more than a pale imitation of what the world is doing.
Just the other day some friends and I were standing around and we overhead the local Christian Radio Station blasting out of a nearby car. They were playing a remake of a popular secular called “Love Is The Answer” but adding the words “Jesus” and “Lord” here and there to sanctify it for our righteous ears.
It made me want to puke.
Why can’t the art and music of the Christian Culture be different? Even if it were just weird for the sake of being weird, I’d prefer this to the “sounds-like” comparisons of most music and art in the Christian Marketplace today.
I once interviewed Mark Saloman from the band Stavesacre and he had an amazing insight regarding this. He noted that, “…the world creates music and art from a fleshly and vain pool of inspiration. Whereas we, the sons of God, have a unique relationship and connection to the very Creator of the entire Universe. Why shouldn’t the World be following us? Why are we the ones who are following them?”
That’s a great question.
Why are we the ones who are following them?
For over seven years I worked in the Christian Music Industry. I still have friends who are part of the CCM Machine and most of them are great, Godly people who are doing their best to change the system from within. But, sadly, at the end of the day, the Christian Music Industry is still a business and the bottom line is selling product, not ministry.
Why is it easier to copy what someone else is doing and “Christianize” it? Maybe because it’s much more difficult to take the time to submit your craft to God, allow the Holy Spirit to work through your talent to create something that may, or may not, be acceptable to the mainstream audience.
The problem is, sometimes the Truth is offensive. Sometimes the one’s most offended are the people who are supposed to be your brothers and sisters. If you’re supposed to be a “Christian Artist”, and especially if you’re trying to make a living at it, the last thing you’d ever want to do is to offend anyone.
What the world needs now is a new wave of true artists. Those who are more committed to using their talents to communicate a burning truth that sears the soul, rather than those who simply want to spread their own fame.
People like Derek Webb, Jars of Clay, Switchfoot and Over The Rhine come to mind. Artists who create what is sincere and true have more interesting things to say than those who are simply trying to sell us something.
Maybe the real problem is when we try to make a buck off of the Truth? I think maybe loving people and living out the Gospel should never get confused with commerce.
What do you think?
“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”- Isaiah 6:8 (KJV)
**
FIRST SUNDAY: Today we had our very first Sunday Morning house church meeting. I am so excited about the way God has been leading this. It's truly something that He is doing, not me. In fact, the more I take my hands off of it, the better it goes. Please continue to pray for us as we seek His leadership and begin to pray about taking our church outside into the parks and open air of the community around us.
**
MAN OF GOD: Tonight our family participated in a "Right of Passage" for a young man in our "Mission" house church who is turning 13. It was such a blessing to celebrate this with everyone and to speak into his life, sharing with his family and acknowledging the hand of God in his development. Here's to Jacob Wright. A young man who has a heart for people, a divine, spiritual gift of evangelism and a small army of people who believe in him and support him in his walk with Jesus. Welcome to manhood Jacob. We're proud of you!
**
IN PROCESS: Working on several articles at the moment. Too busy to thumbnail them here, but watch your "inbox" for a few goodies soon.
**
THANK YOU: So many of you have emailed me to let me know you've been standing with me and my family in prayer as I search for a new full-time job. I know that God will show us His plans very soon and I look forward to sharing with all of you what He will do in our lives because of your faithfulness to pray and to stand with us during this time.
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Secret Power
Paul’s Secret Power by Keith Giles
*(taken from the book-in-progress- "The Power Of Weakness")
If I’ve learned anything in my spiritual journey, it’s that God often allows us to go through challenges, difficulty, sorrow and pain so that we can learn the deeper lessons of faith and life in the Kingdom.
I know that many Christians struggle with this concept of God as one who is good, and yet still allows suffering for his children.
I mean, aren’t we the “King’s Kids”? Don’t we have the promise of blessing and plenty as devoted followers of Jesus? Didn’t God promise that we are healed by the stripes of Jesus? Isn’t it always God’s will that we be healthy and happy?
The short answer is, “No, He doesn’t”.
Perhaps one day I will write a book about how God, who is good, allows us, His children, to endure suffering in this life, as part of His mercy to us. For now, let me suggest that we stop and consider the original “King’s Kid” and how God allowed Him to suffer when He walked upon this Earth. The crucifixion notwithstanding, Jesus was born into a poor family (see Luke 2:24 and then Leviticus 12:8), endured the death of Joseph, his earthly father, walked everywhere, and was homeless (Matthew 8:20). What more should we expect as adoptive sons and daughters of the King?
As A.W. Tozer declares, “Our great honor lies in being just what Jesus was and is. To be accepted by those who accept Him, rejected by all who reject Him, loved by those who love Him and hated by everyone who hates Him. What greater glory could come to any man?” (“Born After Midnight” pp. 58-59, 1959, Christian Publications, Inc., Camp Hill PA.)
If this isn’t enough, Jesus himself promised us that, “In this life, you will have trouble” (John 16:33) and Paul the Apostle, who yearns to know the “fellowship of sharing in his sufferings” (Philipians 3:10), spent most of his ministry cold and starving in prison, as did many other disciples. Even those considered “Super Apostles” gladly shared in the sufferings of Jesus here in this life.
Hebrews has an astounding verse which declares that many of our heroes in the faith went to their graves having never received what was promised to them by God. “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.” (Hebrews 11:13)
My own spiritual journey has proven this to be true; that God allows suffering in order to teach us how to walk by faith and to trust in Him alone. God has our eternal happiness in mind, not our temporal comfort.
Paul the Apostle knew this to be true.
In 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, Paul begins to tell us how God allowed him to suffer in order to teach him an awesome truth.
Paul was living with a “thorn in the flesh” and desperately wanted God to remove it.
We don’t know exactly what this “thorn” was, but most scholars believe that it had something to do with his eyes, perhaps cataracts or partial blindness. There are numerous clues throughout the letters of Paul that suggest that his eyes were failing him. In Galatians 4:14-15 he refers to this illness by saying, “my illness was a trial to you” and “you would have torn out your own eyes and given them to me”, further suggesting that his thorn was connected to an eye problem. He remarks that he has written in “large letters” as he wrote with his “own hand” the closing portion of Galatians chapter 6. This, say scholars, was indicative of his failing eyesight. It also makes sense that Paul’s eyes were weak due to the nature of his conversion, where he was knocked from his horse by a blinding light and later had to be healed in order to regain his sight, as recorded in Acts 9.
Whatever Paul’s thorn, we know from the second letter to the Corinthians that it was something he dearly wanted to be healed of.
So, Paul the Apostle, one of the giants of the Christian faith, who lead the first missionary expeditions to the nations of the Gentiles, who wrote most of the entire New Testament, who healed the sick and performed miraculous signs and wonders in the name of Jesus, gets on his knees and pleads for God to heal him.
God, who is good, says “No”.
Not once, not twice, but three times. God’s answer was “No”.
And then God adds this sentence in reply to Paul’s plea for healing, “My Grace is sufficient for you, and my power is made perfect in weakness.”
We have missed this incredible truth, for the most part. Especially when we listen to and embrace doctrine that says that God always wants us to be healthy and happy and wealthy and prosperous by this world’s standards.
When we endure hardship, we attribute this to Satan. We must be under some sort of spiritual attack. We come to God but only to beg him to take away the pain and remove the thorn from our side because we cannot imagine that God, who is good, might have a lesson of trust that He wants to walk us through.
The first chapter of James is one of my favorite sections of scripture. In this passage, James, the half-brother of Jesus himself, teaches us to “consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you endure hardships of many kinds…for we know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
I used to think that James was saying we should just smile through the pain. Grin and bear it, if you will. But, over time, I have come to really understand how we, as followers of Jesus, can seriously consider it pure joy when we endure hardships of many kinds.
What James is speaking of is a simple trust that all things, including our hardships, come from God, who is good, for the purpose of making us who we want to be in our heart of hearts.
When we endure hardships, our faith is tested. This is when we discover if what we say we believe is really what we believe or not. If we never have an opportunity to put our faith to the test, we’ll never know if we can stand on it or not.
When I was out of work for over a year and a half, with a wife and two small boys to car for, I learned more than I ever thought I could about my own, real faith.
I knew through that experience that God was really near to me. That He really heard my prayers. That He would really give me daily bread if I would simply sit back and trust in Him alone.
Faith, says James, develops something called perseverance. Perseverance is the kind of faith, the quality of faith, that will not let go of God, no matter what.
It’s the quality of faith we see in the life of Job, who endures the most traumatic suffering allowed by God, who is good, and finds the words to say, “Though He slay me, yet will I praise Him.” (Job 13:15)
That’s perseverance, and it is this quality of faith that we can only develop as we endure hardships of many kinds. As Job did. As Paul did. As you and I do.
I can’t speak for any of you, but as for me, I dearly want that kind of faith. I want the sort of faith in God which, tried in the fire, emerges as pure, refined gold.
James tells us that we can’t have that kind of faith unless we endure trials and hardships “of many kinds,” and so, we can honestly and sincerely count it pure joy when those opportunities come to test our faith and burn away the doubt and the fears of our flesh, to reveal the sort of faith that trusts in God no matter what.
James goes on to say that this process of enduring hardship, with joy, is the path to maturity where we will truly “not lack anything”.
So, in a way, it is true that God’s ultimate plan is to lead us through our life and eventually to bring us to the place where we “want for nothing”, however His path and His plan doesn’t always involve earthly wealth and a life of leisure. Instead, God’s plan is to perform the greatest miracle of all; to transform someone like you, someone like me, into the image of His own son, Jesus.
Until we let go of the worldly twist on the Gospel, which says that God’s plan is to give us a rose garden life flowing with ease and comfort, we will never have our own eyes healed to see what Paul saw that day when his prayer for healing went unanswered.
Until we are able to see that we can honestly count it pure joy to endure suffering and refine our faith in Him we’ll never understand the mystery that God’s power is made perfect in our weakness.
Luckily for us, Paul gets it. He is able to see something with spiritual eyes that his own failing, physical eyes, could never hope to view, the power of Christ revealed in our flesh.
“I will boast all the more in my weakness for it is the power of Christ working in me!”
*kg
(Read: 1 Corinthians 1:27, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 and 2 Corinthians 12:9)
**
To reply to me, DO NOT reply to this email. I will not get it. Instead, send your comments to me directly at:
elysiansky (at) hotmail (dot) com.
***
THE GOSPEL: FOR HERE OR TO GO? - The six-part series is running over at both Neil Cole's CMA Resources (www.cmaresources.org) and also at Ginkworld.net. If you've missed this series, I'd encourage you to check them out online. You can read up to part 4 over at Ginkworld.net and CMA has up to part 3 so far. Enjoy!
***
CHURCH IN THE PARK- Several of us will be meeting next Sunday morning to begin praying for wisdom and direction as we look towards starting a new Sunday morning church that will meet and worship and share food and read the Gospels together in a local park. More as things develop.
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
*(taken from the book-in-progress- "The Power Of Weakness")
If I’ve learned anything in my spiritual journey, it’s that God often allows us to go through challenges, difficulty, sorrow and pain so that we can learn the deeper lessons of faith and life in the Kingdom.
I know that many Christians struggle with this concept of God as one who is good, and yet still allows suffering for his children.
I mean, aren’t we the “King’s Kids”? Don’t we have the promise of blessing and plenty as devoted followers of Jesus? Didn’t God promise that we are healed by the stripes of Jesus? Isn’t it always God’s will that we be healthy and happy?
The short answer is, “No, He doesn’t”.
Perhaps one day I will write a book about how God, who is good, allows us, His children, to endure suffering in this life, as part of His mercy to us. For now, let me suggest that we stop and consider the original “King’s Kid” and how God allowed Him to suffer when He walked upon this Earth. The crucifixion notwithstanding, Jesus was born into a poor family (see Luke 2:24 and then Leviticus 12:8), endured the death of Joseph, his earthly father, walked everywhere, and was homeless (Matthew 8:20). What more should we expect as adoptive sons and daughters of the King?
As A.W. Tozer declares, “Our great honor lies in being just what Jesus was and is. To be accepted by those who accept Him, rejected by all who reject Him, loved by those who love Him and hated by everyone who hates Him. What greater glory could come to any man?” (“Born After Midnight” pp. 58-59, 1959, Christian Publications, Inc., Camp Hill PA.)
If this isn’t enough, Jesus himself promised us that, “In this life, you will have trouble” (John 16:33) and Paul the Apostle, who yearns to know the “fellowship of sharing in his sufferings” (Philipians 3:10), spent most of his ministry cold and starving in prison, as did many other disciples. Even those considered “Super Apostles” gladly shared in the sufferings of Jesus here in this life.
Hebrews has an astounding verse which declares that many of our heroes in the faith went to their graves having never received what was promised to them by God. “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.” (Hebrews 11:13)
My own spiritual journey has proven this to be true; that God allows suffering in order to teach us how to walk by faith and to trust in Him alone. God has our eternal happiness in mind, not our temporal comfort.
Paul the Apostle knew this to be true.
In 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, Paul begins to tell us how God allowed him to suffer in order to teach him an awesome truth.
Paul was living with a “thorn in the flesh” and desperately wanted God to remove it.
We don’t know exactly what this “thorn” was, but most scholars believe that it had something to do with his eyes, perhaps cataracts or partial blindness. There are numerous clues throughout the letters of Paul that suggest that his eyes were failing him. In Galatians 4:14-15 he refers to this illness by saying, “my illness was a trial to you” and “you would have torn out your own eyes and given them to me”, further suggesting that his thorn was connected to an eye problem. He remarks that he has written in “large letters” as he wrote with his “own hand” the closing portion of Galatians chapter 6. This, say scholars, was indicative of his failing eyesight. It also makes sense that Paul’s eyes were weak due to the nature of his conversion, where he was knocked from his horse by a blinding light and later had to be healed in order to regain his sight, as recorded in Acts 9.
Whatever Paul’s thorn, we know from the second letter to the Corinthians that it was something he dearly wanted to be healed of.
So, Paul the Apostle, one of the giants of the Christian faith, who lead the first missionary expeditions to the nations of the Gentiles, who wrote most of the entire New Testament, who healed the sick and performed miraculous signs and wonders in the name of Jesus, gets on his knees and pleads for God to heal him.
God, who is good, says “No”.
Not once, not twice, but three times. God’s answer was “No”.
And then God adds this sentence in reply to Paul’s plea for healing, “My Grace is sufficient for you, and my power is made perfect in weakness.”
We have missed this incredible truth, for the most part. Especially when we listen to and embrace doctrine that says that God always wants us to be healthy and happy and wealthy and prosperous by this world’s standards.
When we endure hardship, we attribute this to Satan. We must be under some sort of spiritual attack. We come to God but only to beg him to take away the pain and remove the thorn from our side because we cannot imagine that God, who is good, might have a lesson of trust that He wants to walk us through.
The first chapter of James is one of my favorite sections of scripture. In this passage, James, the half-brother of Jesus himself, teaches us to “consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you endure hardships of many kinds…for we know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
I used to think that James was saying we should just smile through the pain. Grin and bear it, if you will. But, over time, I have come to really understand how we, as followers of Jesus, can seriously consider it pure joy when we endure hardships of many kinds.
What James is speaking of is a simple trust that all things, including our hardships, come from God, who is good, for the purpose of making us who we want to be in our heart of hearts.
When we endure hardships, our faith is tested. This is when we discover if what we say we believe is really what we believe or not. If we never have an opportunity to put our faith to the test, we’ll never know if we can stand on it or not.
When I was out of work for over a year and a half, with a wife and two small boys to car for, I learned more than I ever thought I could about my own, real faith.
I knew through that experience that God was really near to me. That He really heard my prayers. That He would really give me daily bread if I would simply sit back and trust in Him alone.
Faith, says James, develops something called perseverance. Perseverance is the kind of faith, the quality of faith, that will not let go of God, no matter what.
It’s the quality of faith we see in the life of Job, who endures the most traumatic suffering allowed by God, who is good, and finds the words to say, “Though He slay me, yet will I praise Him.” (Job 13:15)
That’s perseverance, and it is this quality of faith that we can only develop as we endure hardships of many kinds. As Job did. As Paul did. As you and I do.
I can’t speak for any of you, but as for me, I dearly want that kind of faith. I want the sort of faith in God which, tried in the fire, emerges as pure, refined gold.
James tells us that we can’t have that kind of faith unless we endure trials and hardships “of many kinds,” and so, we can honestly and sincerely count it pure joy when those opportunities come to test our faith and burn away the doubt and the fears of our flesh, to reveal the sort of faith that trusts in God no matter what.
James goes on to say that this process of enduring hardship, with joy, is the path to maturity where we will truly “not lack anything”.
So, in a way, it is true that God’s ultimate plan is to lead us through our life and eventually to bring us to the place where we “want for nothing”, however His path and His plan doesn’t always involve earthly wealth and a life of leisure. Instead, God’s plan is to perform the greatest miracle of all; to transform someone like you, someone like me, into the image of His own son, Jesus.
Until we let go of the worldly twist on the Gospel, which says that God’s plan is to give us a rose garden life flowing with ease and comfort, we will never have our own eyes healed to see what Paul saw that day when his prayer for healing went unanswered.
Until we are able to see that we can honestly count it pure joy to endure suffering and refine our faith in Him we’ll never understand the mystery that God’s power is made perfect in our weakness.
Luckily for us, Paul gets it. He is able to see something with spiritual eyes that his own failing, physical eyes, could never hope to view, the power of Christ revealed in our flesh.
“I will boast all the more in my weakness for it is the power of Christ working in me!”
*kg
(Read: 1 Corinthians 1:27, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 and 2 Corinthians 12:9)
**
To reply to me, DO NOT reply to this email. I will not get it. Instead, send your comments to me directly at:
elysiansky (at) hotmail (dot) com.
***
THE GOSPEL: FOR HERE OR TO GO? - The six-part series is running over at both Neil Cole's CMA Resources (www.cmaresources.org) and also at Ginkworld.net. If you've missed this series, I'd encourage you to check them out online. You can read up to part 4 over at Ginkworld.net and CMA has up to part 3 so far. Enjoy!
***
CHURCH IN THE PARK- Several of us will be meeting next Sunday morning to begin praying for wisdom and direction as we look towards starting a new Sunday morning church that will meet and worship and share food and read the Gospels together in a local park. More as things develop.
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
Monday, September 25, 2006
Emerging Missionaries
[subversive underground] EMERGING MISSIONARIES by Keith Giles
Wendy and I have been hosting "The Mission" house church for about nine months now in our home. Every Thursday night at 6pm friends start showing up with food enough to share with everyone. We hold hands in a circle in our kitchen and invite the Holy Spirit to join us in our meal together, leading us throughout the evening as our guest of honor.
Fellowship time is enjoyed throughout the shared meal. During the summer months we've enjoyed eating out on the covered patio on the back porch. This is really where we get to fellowship with one another, and experience "Koinonia" together; a sense of being in communion with God and with one another at the same time.
After this we move into the den carrying hot mugs of coffee and our Bibles. Usually we enjoy communion together before a time of worship, but sometimes we mix it up and start with worship and end with communion. Either way, after this time we move into the "share time" where each person shares with the group something encouraging that God has spoken to them or revealed to them in their own walk throughout the week. It can be a scripture verse, an insight into God's Word or a life lesson learned by walking with Jesus through challenging times. Sometimes we stop and pray for a person's need on the spot, or encourage them where we see God wanting to lift them up. Sometimes we read entire chapters of the Bible together and share what we hear God saying to us through the Word. At any rate, we all share together equally. Children and teenagers and adults all share and listen to one another. Usually the more piercing insights come from those among us who are still in elementary school.
What I have seen happening lately is what is most encouraging to me. Lately I've seen God begin to call some of us out of our comfort zones to become missionaries in our culture. This is especially encouraging to me because our entire vision was to have a house church that wasn't exclusively inward-focused but that also realized the calling each follower of Jesus has to be a missionary...hence the name of our house church- "The Mission".
One woman in our group has felt called to lead a Girl's Club for a few of the girls who live at the motel where we minister each month. Her heart is to provide a loving example of God's love to these girls, sharing her life with them, encouraging them and showing them who Jesus is.
Another woman in our group, an artist, is sensing God's call to use her art outside the walls of the Church. She's praying and listening for God's voice, as she creates art in her sun room, for direction and guidance from Him so that her art reflects His glory outside of the church building and out on the streets where real life is lived.
Still another woman is praying about becoming a mentor to a young girl by signing up to become a Big Sister to a troubled teen. We've seen so much growth in her life over the years, as her friend, and now, on her own, she is realizing that she has something to share with others to help them overcome the challenges of life.
My wife and I have felt a strong calling to be missionaries to the families on our street. We did a five week "Kids Club" in our home this summer where the neighborhood kids came and learned about Jesus while having fun playing games, watching magic tricks and eating pizza.
Just recently, to my amazement, a new vision was spoken in our group. One of our women is feeling called to start a Church In The Park where we would take what we do on Thursday evenings and meet in a local park to share food, worship and read the Gospels in a public place, inviting anyone who wanted to join us in the park to share the food, and the fellowship with us.
I can't tell you how excited I am about this. This is better than anything I could have dreamed up on my own. Now several in our group, and even some outside The Mission, are feeling called to start meeting on Sunday mornings in a local park, sharing food, sharing Jesus, with anyone God brings our way. We will invite and welcome the homeless, the lonely, to sit and share food with us. We will worship out loud in the park and invite families, children, the elderly, the sick, or whomever is around us, to listen to the words of Jesus as we read the Gospels together on the grass.
I look at this and I wonder, why couldn't more people do something just like this in their own city, in their own neighborhood? Aren't we all called to share what God has given us, our time, talent and treasure, with others?
Several people have shared with me their own testimony of how God has called them to worship in the park, or to invite their neighbors over for a celebration time, or to step out of their comfort zones to love others, and this is very exciting stuff.
When everyday, ordinary people realize that they are the Church, the ambassadors of Christ, and walk in obedience to the Holy Spirit, loving others, sharing their time and showing true compassion, without an agenda, the full power of discipleship comes into play. We become the people He has called us to be, we emerge as the Body of Christ, we realize our unique gifting, we discover our need for God's Grace every single day, and we experience the necessary encouragement of our own brothers and sisters in Christ for the daily service we give to others on Christ's behalf.
I pray that more and more we would all listen for the voice of God calling us outward, urging us to lift up our heads to see the fields that are white unto harvest.
"...whoever wants to be first must be your slave--just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many"- JESUS (Matt 20:27-28)
-kg
**
*to reply to this email, do NOT hit "reply" because I WILL NOT get it. Instead, send your email to me directly at "elysiansky (at) hotmail (dot) com".
**
*Yes...I am STILL on the job trail. What gives?! God is showing Himself faithful to us, as always. He's provided for us financially, through various means (mostly generous, giving friends and family members), and He's given us peace as we wait for His next open door. Thank you for your continued prayers for our family during this time. I have a job interview today at 1:30pm and a few others down the road. I know God has something in mind for us, I just pray we can discover it soon.
Peas,
kg
http://www.keithgiles.com
[END TRANSMISSION]
Wendy and I have been hosting "The Mission" house church for about nine months now in our home. Every Thursday night at 6pm friends start showing up with food enough to share with everyone. We hold hands in a circle in our kitchen and invite the Holy Spirit to join us in our meal together, leading us throughout the evening as our guest of honor.
Fellowship time is enjoyed throughout the shared meal. During the summer months we've enjoyed eating out on the covered patio on the back porch. This is really where we get to fellowship with one another, and experience "Koinonia" together; a sense of being in communion with God and with one another at the same time.
After this we move into the den carrying hot mugs of coffee and our Bibles. Usually we enjoy communion together before a time of worship, but sometimes we mix it up and start with worship and end with communion. Either way, after this time we move into the "share time" where each person shares with the group something encouraging that God has spoken to them or revealed to them in their own walk throughout the week. It can be a scripture verse, an insight into God's Word or a life lesson learned by walking with Jesus through challenging times. Sometimes we stop and pray for a person's need on the spot, or encourage them where we see God wanting to lift them up. Sometimes we read entire chapters of the Bible together and share what we hear God saying to us through the Word. At any rate, we all share together equally. Children and teenagers and adults all share and listen to one another. Usually the more piercing insights come from those among us who are still in elementary school.
What I have seen happening lately is what is most encouraging to me. Lately I've seen God begin to call some of us out of our comfort zones to become missionaries in our culture. This is especially encouraging to me because our entire vision was to have a house church that wasn't exclusively inward-focused but that also realized the calling each follower of Jesus has to be a missionary...hence the name of our house church- "The Mission".
One woman in our group has felt called to lead a Girl's Club for a few of the girls who live at the motel where we minister each month. Her heart is to provide a loving example of God's love to these girls, sharing her life with them, encouraging them and showing them who Jesus is.
Another woman in our group, an artist, is sensing God's call to use her art outside the walls of the Church. She's praying and listening for God's voice, as she creates art in her sun room, for direction and guidance from Him so that her art reflects His glory outside of the church building and out on the streets where real life is lived.
Still another woman is praying about becoming a mentor to a young girl by signing up to become a Big Sister to a troubled teen. We've seen so much growth in her life over the years, as her friend, and now, on her own, she is realizing that she has something to share with others to help them overcome the challenges of life.
My wife and I have felt a strong calling to be missionaries to the families on our street. We did a five week "Kids Club" in our home this summer where the neighborhood kids came and learned about Jesus while having fun playing games, watching magic tricks and eating pizza.
Just recently, to my amazement, a new vision was spoken in our group. One of our women is feeling called to start a Church In The Park where we would take what we do on Thursday evenings and meet in a local park to share food, worship and read the Gospels in a public place, inviting anyone who wanted to join us in the park to share the food, and the fellowship with us.
I can't tell you how excited I am about this. This is better than anything I could have dreamed up on my own. Now several in our group, and even some outside The Mission, are feeling called to start meeting on Sunday mornings in a local park, sharing food, sharing Jesus, with anyone God brings our way. We will invite and welcome the homeless, the lonely, to sit and share food with us. We will worship out loud in the park and invite families, children, the elderly, the sick, or whomever is around us, to listen to the words of Jesus as we read the Gospels together on the grass.
I look at this and I wonder, why couldn't more people do something just like this in their own city, in their own neighborhood? Aren't we all called to share what God has given us, our time, talent and treasure, with others?
Several people have shared with me their own testimony of how God has called them to worship in the park, or to invite their neighbors over for a celebration time, or to step out of their comfort zones to love others, and this is very exciting stuff.
When everyday, ordinary people realize that they are the Church, the ambassadors of Christ, and walk in obedience to the Holy Spirit, loving others, sharing their time and showing true compassion, without an agenda, the full power of discipleship comes into play. We become the people He has called us to be, we emerge as the Body of Christ, we realize our unique gifting, we discover our need for God's Grace every single day, and we experience the necessary encouragement of our own brothers and sisters in Christ for the daily service we give to others on Christ's behalf.
I pray that more and more we would all listen for the voice of God calling us outward, urging us to lift up our heads to see the fields that are white unto harvest.
"...whoever wants to be first must be your slave--just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many"- JESUS (Matt 20:27-28)
-kg
**
*to reply to this email, do NOT hit "reply" because I WILL NOT get it. Instead, send your email to me directly at "elysiansky (at) hotmail (dot) com".
**
*Yes...I am STILL on the job trail. What gives?! God is showing Himself faithful to us, as always. He's provided for us financially, through various means (mostly generous, giving friends and family members), and He's given us peace as we wait for His next open door. Thank you for your continued prayers for our family during this time. I have a job interview today at 1:30pm and a few others down the road. I know God has something in mind for us, I just pray we can discover it soon.
Peas,
kg
http://www.keithgiles.com
[END TRANSMISSION]
Monday, September 18, 2006
EYEBALLS: RE-SEND
*Re-sending due to complications in previous newsletter.
thanks,
kg
A Church Full Of Eyeballs? By Keith Giles
"If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body." - 1 Corinthians 12:19
In the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians we learn that God has graciously given a generous helping of spiritual gifts to the Church for the purpose of building up and encouraging the Body.
The Church today, by and large, does not have a very well developed understanding of these gifts. Few churches accept that these gifts are even intended for you and I to operate in today, but even for those who do believe that these gifts are for us to use, there is an alarming lack of Biblical perspective on the practical application and employment of such a wide variety of spiritual manifestations.
Usually we only see a handful of the gifts being elevated in terms of importance, and sometimes even seen as necessary for Salvation and/or as evidence for being truly filled with the Spirit.
Let's take a fresh look at the Scripture and see what God's Word really wants to teach us about these gifts and how to use them.
First, God does indeed intend for the Church to be built up though the use of these gifts as He sovereignly distributes them among us, His Body. (1 Cor 12:18-19)
As one who was raised a good Southern Baptist, I have never desired any of these more outward manifestations such as prophecy or speaking in tongues. Whenever the subject were brought up I was happy to report that I had the spiritual gift to be a teacher, to be a pastor, and to encourage others. This, according to Paul and the rest of the New Testament, is a valid response. These are all identified as Spiritual Gifts and it is the Holy Spirit who is the source of such gifts to the Body.
However, early one morning, a few months ago, as I was praying alone in my living room I suddenly realized that I wasn't praying in English. "Oh," I thought to myself, "this must be what it's like to pray in tongues." Then I wondered what it would be like if I could understand these words. Just as quickly as I thought that, I began to understand what the words meant. The whole thing transpired very matter-of-factly. I didn't feel tingles. I wasn't having an emotional experience. I wasn't even asking God to fill me with the Spirit or to let me speak in tongues. I think I was praying for direction in my life or something mundane. Suddenly, out of the blue, I found myself with a gift of tongues that I never even asked for.
In fact, it was only months later that I wondered if it had been an isolated event or not. "I wonder if I can just turn it on and off myself," I thought, and then I started to try to pray in the same way again. Sure enough, the gift was still there, waiting to be used if and when I needed it.
I don't often tell that story. (I'm a former Southern Baptist, you know.) Even though I've spent several years among the Vineyard churches in Southern California, I have never once wanted to speak in tongues. If God hadn’t just handed this gift to me I would never have asked for it. Maybe God knew that and that’s why He just decided to give it to me. Like a gift, I guess.
The mistake many churches make in regards to the outward gifts is to focus only on these as evidence of being filled with the Spirit or, sometimes, Salvation itself. Both of which are misguided and un-Biblical.
There are 28 specific gifts of the Spirit listed in the Scriptures. These are broken down as follows: Speaking Gifts (13), Serving Gifts (9), Power Gifts (3), and People Gifts (5).
In 1 Corinthians, Chapter 12, Paul clarifies for us what our view of these Spiritual Gifts should look like. He explains how it is God who gives us these gifts, as He chooses, for the purpose of making the Body stronger. "But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be." (verse 18)
Just below that, Paul makes the final point when he says, starting in verse 29, "Are all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way," he says, before going on in the next chapter to explain what the "most excellent way" really is. Hint: It's love.
Paul's admonition to us, when it comes to Spiritual Gifts, is first to recognize that not everyone is the same. "If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?" (v. 17) We need to accept that not everyone will have the gift of healing. Not everyone will have the gift of tongues. Some might have the gift of Administration (1 Cor 12:28), or some may operate in the spiritual gifting of Craftsmanship (Exodus 31:3) or Hospitality (1 Peter 4:10). If so, we should not treat them any differently than we would someone who could heal the sick or prophesy. Every gift is necessary and important. Every person matters.
Would you want to be part of a church, for example, where the pastor only emphasized the spiritual gifts of martyrdom and celibacy, to the exclusion of the other 26 gifts? How would that make everyone else in the church feel who had one of the other gifts and not the gift of celibacy or martyrdom? When churches focus on only a handful of gifts, they make everyone without those gifts feel unimportant and disqualified from acceptable forms of service and ministry within the Body. This is why Paul encourages us to honor every member of the Body, and every gifting, as being of equal honor and importance. "If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?" (v. 17).
Secondly, Paul reminds us our differences in gifting are by design. God intended it to be this way. We can't be frustrated as pastors or church-members if everyone doesn't speak in tongues or heal the sick. God never intended this. God intended that the 28 different gifts be distributed, as He directs, for the purpose of making the entire Body healthy and effective. We should be thankful that our churches are not made up of people who are just like us.
Thirdly, and probably most importantly, Paul reminds us that the greatest of all things is not being an Apostle or speaking in tongues or even prophesying, but instead the greatest of all gifts is the gift to love others. This is the only universal gift of the Spirit to every believer, the spiritual gift to love as Jesus loved. In fact, it's so central to the reality of following Jesus that it's not even an option for us. Jesus commands His disciples to love one another. He says that if we love one another it will be the evidence that we really are His disciples. It's part of our spiritual DNA as followers of Jesus. The one thing all of us should have in common is love for others.
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." – JESUS (John 15:12)
Jesus instructed His disciples to love the Lord God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love others as they love themselves. (Matt 22:37-40) Paul reminds us of this so that we don't forget that our first goal is to love.
If there could be a return to a balanced view of the Spiritual Gifts in our churches today, I believe that would be good thing. We can use a refresher course on Paul's simple instruction on how gifts are various, and how God's intention is not for everyone to heal or speak in tongues or prophesy, but that everyone should be happy with whatever gift He gives them, not for their own pride, but for use in the service of others.
But, even more than that, I believe what is needed most in our churches today is a realization that, "If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that moves mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." – 1 Corinthians 13:2
Maybe we could edit the words of that old worship song to say, "More love, less posturing, more acceptance of others gifts in my life"? But if our hearts could change to be more loving towards each other in this area, maybe our songs could stay the same.
So, if you have the spiritual gift of administration, or service, or acts of mercy, or celibacy, you are an important and necessary part of our Body. You matter. We need you. Be encouraged that God made you for a purpose and that He has gifted you to be a blessing to others. Even if they don't accept you, or your gifting, you can love and serve them anyway because of the example of Jesus.
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." - 1 Cor 13:13
- http://www.keithgiles.com
**
BIBLICAL LISTINGS OF THE 28 SPIRITUAL GIFTS OF THE SPIRT
*Ephesians 4:11
Apostles; Prophets; Evangelists; Pastors; Teachers.
*1 Cor 12:8-11
Word of Wisdom; Word of Knowledge; Faith; Healing; Miracles; Prophecy; Discerning Spirits; Tongues; Interpreting tongues.
*Romans 12:6-8
Prophecy; Service; Teaching; Exhortation; Giving; Leading; Acts of Mercy
*Miscellaneous
Administration (1 Cor 12:28); Hospitality (1 Pet 4:10); Celibacy (1 Cor 7:7); Martyrdom (1 Cor 13:3); Prophesying in Song (1 Chr 25:2 & 7); Prophesying with instruments (1 Chr 25: 1 & 6); Craftsmanship (Ex 31:3); Dream interpretation (Gen 41:12)
**
JOB SEARCH: I'm still on the hunt for a new full-time job. So, if you know of any great ministries or organizations looking for someone with a background in writing, sales, marketing, or teaching, please feel free to let me know. Otherwise, I appreciate your prayers for our family during this time of transition.
**
CHURCH IN THE PARK: Several of us at "The Mission" house church have been praying about starting a Sunday Morning Church in a local park. Our plan is to simply gather, share food, invite strangers to join us, study the Gospels and worship and pray for each other under a tree somewhere each Sunday morning. This has been a wonderful answer to my prayers and I'm excited about stepping out into the community to "be the church" in a public place. Please pray for us as we step out!
**
COMING SOON:
New articles are brewing in my little brain. Here's a glimpse of what's on the back burner...
*SUBVERSIVE ARTS: A plan to influence culture via creative subversion.
*THE COMMANDS OF JESUS: In the Great Commission, Jesus gave instructions for His disciples to teach others to obey all that He had commanded. Most of us don't know what those commands were. I think we need to know. At least, I do.
*HOUSE CHURCH 101: What is house church? How is it different from traditional church? A practical observation of basic house church practices.
**
To reply to this email, please don't reply to this message. I will not get it. Instead, email me direct at:
elysiansky(at)hotmail(dot)com
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
thanks,
kg
A Church Full Of Eyeballs? By Keith Giles
"If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body." - 1 Corinthians 12:19
In the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians we learn that God has graciously given a generous helping of spiritual gifts to the Church for the purpose of building up and encouraging the Body.
The Church today, by and large, does not have a very well developed understanding of these gifts. Few churches accept that these gifts are even intended for you and I to operate in today, but even for those who do believe that these gifts are for us to use, there is an alarming lack of Biblical perspective on the practical application and employment of such a wide variety of spiritual manifestations.
Usually we only see a handful of the gifts being elevated in terms of importance, and sometimes even seen as necessary for Salvation and/or as evidence for being truly filled with the Spirit.
Let's take a fresh look at the Scripture and see what God's Word really wants to teach us about these gifts and how to use them.
First, God does indeed intend for the Church to be built up though the use of these gifts as He sovereignly distributes them among us, His Body. (1 Cor 12:18-19)
As one who was raised a good Southern Baptist, I have never desired any of these more outward manifestations such as prophecy or speaking in tongues. Whenever the subject were brought up I was happy to report that I had the spiritual gift to be a teacher, to be a pastor, and to encourage others. This, according to Paul and the rest of the New Testament, is a valid response. These are all identified as Spiritual Gifts and it is the Holy Spirit who is the source of such gifts to the Body.
However, early one morning, a few months ago, as I was praying alone in my living room I suddenly realized that I wasn't praying in English. "Oh," I thought to myself, "this must be what it's like to pray in tongues." Then I wondered what it would be like if I could understand these words. Just as quickly as I thought that, I began to understand what the words meant. The whole thing transpired very matter-of-factly. I didn't feel tingles. I wasn't having an emotional experience. I wasn't even asking God to fill me with the Spirit or to let me speak in tongues. I think I was praying for direction in my life or something mundane. Suddenly, out of the blue, I found myself with a gift of tongues that I never even asked for.
In fact, it was only months later that I wondered if it had been an isolated event or not. "I wonder if I can just turn it on and off myself," I thought, and then I started to try to pray in the same way again. Sure enough, the gift was still there, waiting to be used if and when I needed it.
I don't often tell that story. (I'm a former Southern Baptist, you know.) Even though I've spent several years among the Vineyard churches in Southern California, I have never once wanted to speak in tongues. If God hadn’t just handed this gift to me I would never have asked for it. Maybe God knew that and that’s why He just decided to give it to me. Like a gift, I guess.
The mistake many churches make in regards to the outward gifts is to focus only on these as evidence of being filled with the Spirit or, sometimes, Salvation itself. Both of which are misguided and un-Biblical.
There are 28 specific gifts of the Spirit listed in the Scriptures. These are broken down as follows: Speaking Gifts (13), Serving Gifts (9), Power Gifts (3), and People Gifts (5).
In 1 Corinthians, Chapter 12, Paul clarifies for us what our view of these Spiritual Gifts should look like. He explains how it is God who gives us these gifts, as He chooses, for the purpose of making the Body stronger. "But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be." (verse 18)
Just below that, Paul makes the final point when he says, starting in verse 29, "Are all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way," he says, before going on in the next chapter to explain what the "most excellent way" really is. Hint: It's love.
Paul's admonition to us, when it comes to Spiritual Gifts, is first to recognize that not everyone is the same. "If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?" (v. 17) We need to accept that not everyone will have the gift of healing. Not everyone will have the gift of tongues. Some might have the gift of Administration (1 Cor 12:28), or some may operate in the spiritual gifting of Craftsmanship (Exodus 31:3) or Hospitality (1 Peter 4:10). If so, we should not treat them any differently than we would someone who could heal the sick or prophesy. Every gift is necessary and important. Every person matters.
Would you want to be part of a church, for example, where the pastor only emphasized the spiritual gifts of martyrdom and celibacy, to the exclusion of the other 26 gifts? How would that make everyone else in the church feel who had one of the other gifts and not the gift of celibacy or martyrdom? When churches focus on only a handful of gifts, they make everyone without those gifts feel unimportant and disqualified from acceptable forms of service and ministry within the Body. This is why Paul encourages us to honor every member of the Body, and every gifting, as being of equal honor and importance. "If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?" (v. 17).
Secondly, Paul reminds us our differences in gifting are by design. God intended it to be this way. We can't be frustrated as pastors or church-members if everyone doesn't speak in tongues or heal the sick. God never intended this. God intended that the 28 different gifts be distributed, as He directs, for the purpose of making the entire Body healthy and effective. We should be thankful that our churches are not made up of people who are just like us.
Thirdly, and probably most importantly, Paul reminds us that the greatest of all things is not being an Apostle or speaking in tongues or even prophesying, but instead the greatest of all gifts is the gift to love others. This is the only universal gift of the Spirit to every believer, the spiritual gift to love as Jesus loved. In fact, it's so central to the reality of following Jesus that it's not even an option for us. Jesus commands His disciples to love one another. He says that if we love one another it will be the evidence that we really are His disciples. It's part of our spiritual DNA as followers of Jesus. The one thing all of us should have in common is love for others.
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." – JESUS (John 15:12)
Jesus instructed His disciples to love the Lord God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love others as they love themselves. (Matt 22:37-40) Paul reminds us of this so that we don't forget that our first goal is to love.
If there could be a return to a balanced view of the Spiritual Gifts in our churches today, I believe that would be good thing. We can use a refresher course on Paul's simple instruction on how gifts are various, and how God's intention is not for everyone to heal or speak in tongues or prophesy, but that everyone should be happy with whatever gift He gives them, not for their own pride, but for use in the service of others.
But, even more than that, I believe what is needed most in our churches today is a realization that, "If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that moves mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." – 1 Corinthians 13:2
Maybe we could edit the words of that old worship song to say, "More love, less posturing, more acceptance of others gifts in my life"? But if our hearts could change to be more loving towards each other in this area, maybe our songs could stay the same.
So, if you have the spiritual gift of administration, or service, or acts of mercy, or celibacy, you are an important and necessary part of our Body. You matter. We need you. Be encouraged that God made you for a purpose and that He has gifted you to be a blessing to others. Even if they don't accept you, or your gifting, you can love and serve them anyway because of the example of Jesus.
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." - 1 Cor 13:13
- http://www.keithgiles.com
**
BIBLICAL LISTINGS OF THE 28 SPIRITUAL GIFTS OF THE SPIRT
*Ephesians 4:11
Apostles; Prophets; Evangelists; Pastors; Teachers.
*1 Cor 12:8-11
Word of Wisdom; Word of Knowledge; Faith; Healing; Miracles; Prophecy; Discerning Spirits; Tongues; Interpreting tongues.
*Romans 12:6-8
Prophecy; Service; Teaching; Exhortation; Giving; Leading; Acts of Mercy
*Miscellaneous
Administration (1 Cor 12:28); Hospitality (1 Pet 4:10); Celibacy (1 Cor 7:7); Martyrdom (1 Cor 13:3); Prophesying in Song (1 Chr 25:2 & 7); Prophesying with instruments (1 Chr 25: 1 & 6); Craftsmanship (Ex 31:3); Dream interpretation (Gen 41:12)
**
JOB SEARCH: I'm still on the hunt for a new full-time job. So, if you know of any great ministries or organizations looking for someone with a background in writing, sales, marketing, or teaching, please feel free to let me know. Otherwise, I appreciate your prayers for our family during this time of transition.
**
CHURCH IN THE PARK: Several of us at "The Mission" house church have been praying about starting a Sunday Morning Church in a local park. Our plan is to simply gather, share food, invite strangers to join us, study the Gospels and worship and pray for each other under a tree somewhere each Sunday morning. This has been a wonderful answer to my prayers and I'm excited about stepping out into the community to "be the church" in a public place. Please pray for us as we step out!
**
COMING SOON:
New articles are brewing in my little brain. Here's a glimpse of what's on the back burner...
*SUBVERSIVE ARTS: A plan to influence culture via creative subversion.
*THE COMMANDS OF JESUS: In the Great Commission, Jesus gave instructions for His disciples to teach others to obey all that He had commanded. Most of us don't know what those commands were. I think we need to know. At least, I do.
*HOUSE CHURCH 101: What is house church? How is it different from traditional church? A practical observation of basic house church practices.
**
To reply to this email, please don't reply to this message. I will not get it. Instead, email me direct at:
elysiansky(at)hotmail(dot)com
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
Saturday, September 16, 2006
A CHURCH FULL OF EYEBALLS?
A Church Full Of Eyeballs? By Keith Giles
"If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body." - 1 Corinthians 12:19
In the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians we learn that God has graciously given a generous helping of spiritual gifts to the Church for the purpose of building up and encouraging the Body.
The Church today, by and large, does not have a very well developed understanding of these gifts. Few churches accept that these gifts are even intended for you and I to operate in today, but even for those who do believe that these gifts are for us to use, there is an alarming lack of Biblical perspective on the practical application and employment of such a wide variety of spiritual manifestations.
Usually we only see a handful of the gifts being elevated in terms of importance, and sometimes even seen as necessary for Salvation and/or as evidence for being truly filled with the Spirit.
Let's take a fresh look at the Scripture and see what God's Word really wants to teach us about these gifts and how to use them.
First, God does indeed intend for the Church to be built up though the use of these gifts as He sovereignly distributes them among us, His Body. (1 Cor 12:18-19)
As one who was raised a good Southern Baptist, I have never desired any of these more outward manifestations such as prophecy or speaking in tongues. Whenever the subject were brought up I was happy to report that I had the spiritual gift to be a teacher, to be a pastor, and to encourage others. This, according to Paul and the rest of the New Testament, is a valid response. These are all identified as Spiritual Gifts and it is the Holy Spirit who is the source of such gifts to the Body.
However, early one morning, a few months ago, as I was praying alone in my living room I suddenly realized that I wasn't praying in English. "Oh," I thought to myself, "this must be what it's like to pray in tongues." Then I wondered what it would be like if I could understand these words. Just as quickly as I thought that, I began to understand what the words meant. The whole thing transpired very matter-of-factly. I didn't feel tingles. I wasn't having an emotional experience. I wasn't even asking God to fill me with the Spirit or to let me speak in tongues. I think I was praying for direction in my life or something mundane. Suddenly, out of the blue, I found myself with a gift of tongues that I never even asked for.
In fact, it was only months later that I wondered if it had been an isolated event or not. "I wonder if I can just turn it on and off myself," I thought, and then I started to try to pray in the same way again. Sure enough, the gift was still there, waiting to be used if and when I needed it.
I don't often tell that story. (I'm a former Southern Baptist, you know.) Even though I've spent several years among the Vineyard churches in Southern California, I have never once wanted to speak in tongues. If God hadn’t just handed this gift to me I would never have asked for it. Maybe God knew that and that’s why He just decided to give it to me. Like a gift, I guess.
The mistake many churches make in regards to the outward gifts is to focus only on these as evidence of being filled with the Spirit or, sometimes, Salvation itself. Both of which are misguided and un-Biblical.
There are 28 specific gifts of the Spirit listed in the Scriptures. These are broken down as follows: Speaking Gifts (13), Serving Gifts (9), Power Gifts (3), and People Gifts (5).
In 1 Corinthians, Chapter 12, Paul clarifies for us what our view of these Spiritual Gifts should look like. He explains how it is God who gives us these gifts, as He chooses, for the purpose of making the Body stronger. "But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be." (verse 18)
Just below that, Paul makes the final point when he says, starting in verse 29, "Are all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way," he says, before going on in the next chapter to explain what the "most excellent way" really is. Hint: It's love.
Paul's admonition to us, when it comes to Spiritual Gifts, is first to recognize that not everyone is the same. "If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?" (v. 17) We need to accept that not everyone will have the gift of healing. Not everyone will have the gift of tongues. Some might have the gift of Administration (1 Cor 12:28), or some may operate in the spiritual gifting of Craftsmanship (Exodus 31:3) or Hospitality (1 Peter 4:10). If so, we should not treat them any differently than we would someone who could heal the sick or prophesy. Every gift is necessary and important. Every person matters.
Would you want to be part of a church, for example, where the pastor only emphasized the spiritual gifts of martyrdom and celibacy, to the exclusion of the other 26 gifts? How would that make everyone else in the church feel who had one of the other gifts and not the gift of celibacy or martyrdom? When churches focus on only a handful of gifts, they make everyone without those gifts feel unimportant and disqualified from acceptable forms of service and ministry within the Body. This is why Paul encourages us to honor every member of the Body, and every gifting, as being of equal honor and importance. "If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?" (v. 17).
Secondly, Paul reminds us our differences in gifting are by design. God intended it to be this way. We can't be frustrated as pastors or church-members if everyone doesn't speak in tongues or heal the sick. God never intended this. God intended that the 28 different gifts be distributed, as He directs, for the purpose of making the entire Body healthy and effective. We should be thankful that our churches are not made up of people who are just like us.
Thirdly, and probably most importantly, Paul reminds us that the greatest of all things is not being an Apostle or speaking in tongues or even prophesying, but instead the greatest of all gifts is the gift to love others. This is the only universal gift of the Spirit to every believer, the spiritual gift to love as Jesus loved. In fact, it's so central to the reality of following Jesus that it's not even an option for us. Jesus commands His disciples to love one another. He says that if we love one another it will be the evidence that we really are His disciples. It's part of our spiritual DNA as followers of Jesus. The one thing all of us should have in common is love for others.
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." – JESUS (John 15:12)
Jesus instructed His disciples to love the Lord God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love others as they love themselves. (Matt 22:37-40) Paul reminds us of this so that we don't forget that our first goal is to love.
If there could be a return to a balanced view of the Spiritual Gifts in our churches today, I believe that would be good thing. We can use a refresher course on Paul's simple instruction on how gifts are various, and how God's intention is not for everyone to heal or speak in tongues or prophesy, but that everyone should be happy with whatever gift He gives them, not for their own pride, but for use in the service of others.
But, even more than that, I believe what is needed most in our churches today is a realization that, "If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that moves mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." – 1 Corinthians 13:2
Maybe we could edit the words of that old worship song to say, "More love, less posturing, more acceptance of others gifts in my life"? But if our hearts could change to be more loving towards each other in this area, maybe our songs could stay the same.
So, if you have the spiritual gift of administration, or service, or acts of mercy, or celibacy, you are an important and necessary part of our Body. You matter. We need you. Be encouraged that God made you for a purpose and that He has gifted you to be a blessing to others. Even if they don't accept you, or your gifting, you can love and serve them anyway because of the example of Jesus.
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." - 1 Cor 13:13
- http://www.keithgiles.com
**
BIBLICAL LISTINGS OF THE 28 SPIRITUAL GIFTS OF THE SPIRT
*Ephesians 4:11
Apostles; Prophets; Evangelists; Pastors; Teachers.
*1 Cor 12:8-11
Word of Wisdom; Word of Knowledge; Faith; Healing; Miracles; Prophecy; Discerning Spirits; Tongues; Interpreting tongues.
*Romans 12:6-8
Prophecy; Service; Teaching; Exhortation; Giving; Leading; Acts of Mercy
*Miscellaneous
Administration (1 Cor 12:28); Hospitality (1 Pet 4:10); Celibacy (1 Cor 7:7); Martyrdom (1 Cor 13:3); Prophesying in Song (1 Chr 25:2 & 7); Prophesying with instruments (1 Chr 25: 1 & 6); Craftsmanship (Ex 31:3); Dream interpretation (Gen 41:12)
**
JOB SEARCH: I'm still on the hunt for a new full-time job. So, if you know of any great ministries or organizations looking for someone with a background in writing, sales, marketing, or teaching, please feel free to let me know. Otherwise, I appreciate your prayers for our family during this time of transition.
**
CHURCH IN THE PARK: Several of us at "The Mission" house church have been praying about starting a Sunday Morning Church in a local park. Our plan is to simply gather, share food, invite strangers to join us, study the Gospels and worship and pray for each other under a tree somewhere each Sunday morning. This has been a wonderful answer to my prayers and I'm excited about stepping out into the community to "be the church" in a public place. Please pray for us as we step out!
**
COMING SOON:
New articles are brewing in my little brain. Here's a glimpse of what's on the back burner...
*SUBVERSIVE ARTS: A plan to influence culture via creative subversion.
*THE COMMANDS OF JESUS: In the Great Commission, Jesus gave instructions for His disciples to teach others to obey all that He had commanded. Most of us don't know what those commands were. I think we need to know. At least, I do.
*HOUSE CHURCH 101: What is house church? How is it different from traditional church? A practical observation of basic house church practices.
**
To reply to this email, please don't reply to this message. I will not get it. Instead, email me direct at:
elysiansky(at)hotmail(dot)com
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
"If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body." - 1 Corinthians 12:19
In the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians we learn that God has graciously given a generous helping of spiritual gifts to the Church for the purpose of building up and encouraging the Body.
The Church today, by and large, does not have a very well developed understanding of these gifts. Few churches accept that these gifts are even intended for you and I to operate in today, but even for those who do believe that these gifts are for us to use, there is an alarming lack of Biblical perspective on the practical application and employment of such a wide variety of spiritual manifestations.
Usually we only see a handful of the gifts being elevated in terms of importance, and sometimes even seen as necessary for Salvation and/or as evidence for being truly filled with the Spirit.
Let's take a fresh look at the Scripture and see what God's Word really wants to teach us about these gifts and how to use them.
First, God does indeed intend for the Church to be built up though the use of these gifts as He sovereignly distributes them among us, His Body. (1 Cor 12:18-19)
As one who was raised a good Southern Baptist, I have never desired any of these more outward manifestations such as prophecy or speaking in tongues. Whenever the subject were brought up I was happy to report that I had the spiritual gift to be a teacher, to be a pastor, and to encourage others. This, according to Paul and the rest of the New Testament, is a valid response. These are all identified as Spiritual Gifts and it is the Holy Spirit who is the source of such gifts to the Body.
However, early one morning, a few months ago, as I was praying alone in my living room I suddenly realized that I wasn't praying in English. "Oh," I thought to myself, "this must be what it's like to pray in tongues." Then I wondered what it would be like if I could understand these words. Just as quickly as I thought that, I began to understand what the words meant. The whole thing transpired very matter-of-factly. I didn't feel tingles. I wasn't having an emotional experience. I wasn't even asking God to fill me with the Spirit or to let me speak in tongues. I think I was praying for direction in my life or something mundane. Suddenly, out of the blue, I found myself with a gift of tongues that I never even asked for.
In fact, it was only months later that I wondered if it had been an isolated event or not. "I wonder if I can just turn it on and off myself," I thought, and then I started to try to pray in the same way again. Sure enough, the gift was still there, waiting to be used if and when I needed it.
I don't often tell that story. (I'm a former Southern Baptist, you know.) Even though I've spent several years among the Vineyard churches in Southern California, I have never once wanted to speak in tongues. If God hadn’t just handed this gift to me I would never have asked for it. Maybe God knew that and that’s why He just decided to give it to me. Like a gift, I guess.
The mistake many churches make in regards to the outward gifts is to focus only on these as evidence of being filled with the Spirit or, sometimes, Salvation itself. Both of which are misguided and un-Biblical.
There are 28 specific gifts of the Spirit listed in the Scriptures. These are broken down as follows: Speaking Gifts (13), Serving Gifts (9), Power Gifts (3), and People Gifts (5).
In 1 Corinthians, Chapter 12, Paul clarifies for us what our view of these Spiritual Gifts should look like. He explains how it is God who gives us these gifts, as He chooses, for the purpose of making the Body stronger. "But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be." (verse 18)
Just below that, Paul makes the final point when he says, starting in verse 29, "Are all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way," he says, before going on in the next chapter to explain what the "most excellent way" really is. Hint: It's love.
Paul's admonition to us, when it comes to Spiritual Gifts, is first to recognize that not everyone is the same. "If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?" (v. 17) We need to accept that not everyone will have the gift of healing. Not everyone will have the gift of tongues. Some might have the gift of Administration (1 Cor 12:28), or some may operate in the spiritual gifting of Craftsmanship (Exodus 31:3) or Hospitality (1 Peter 4:10). If so, we should not treat them any differently than we would someone who could heal the sick or prophesy. Every gift is necessary and important. Every person matters.
Would you want to be part of a church, for example, where the pastor only emphasized the spiritual gifts of martyrdom and celibacy, to the exclusion of the other 26 gifts? How would that make everyone else in the church feel who had one of the other gifts and not the gift of celibacy or martyrdom? When churches focus on only a handful of gifts, they make everyone without those gifts feel unimportant and disqualified from acceptable forms of service and ministry within the Body. This is why Paul encourages us to honor every member of the Body, and every gifting, as being of equal honor and importance. "If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?" (v. 17).
Secondly, Paul reminds us our differences in gifting are by design. God intended it to be this way. We can't be frustrated as pastors or church-members if everyone doesn't speak in tongues or heal the sick. God never intended this. God intended that the 28 different gifts be distributed, as He directs, for the purpose of making the entire Body healthy and effective. We should be thankful that our churches are not made up of people who are just like us.
Thirdly, and probably most importantly, Paul reminds us that the greatest of all things is not being an Apostle or speaking in tongues or even prophesying, but instead the greatest of all gifts is the gift to love others. This is the only universal gift of the Spirit to every believer, the spiritual gift to love as Jesus loved. In fact, it's so central to the reality of following Jesus that it's not even an option for us. Jesus commands His disciples to love one another. He says that if we love one another it will be the evidence that we really are His disciples. It's part of our spiritual DNA as followers of Jesus. The one thing all of us should have in common is love for others.
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." – JESUS (John 15:12)
Jesus instructed His disciples to love the Lord God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love others as they love themselves. (Matt 22:37-40) Paul reminds us of this so that we don't forget that our first goal is to love.
If there could be a return to a balanced view of the Spiritual Gifts in our churches today, I believe that would be good thing. We can use a refresher course on Paul's simple instruction on how gifts are various, and how God's intention is not for everyone to heal or speak in tongues or prophesy, but that everyone should be happy with whatever gift He gives them, not for their own pride, but for use in the service of others.
But, even more than that, I believe what is needed most in our churches today is a realization that, "If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that moves mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." – 1 Corinthians 13:2
Maybe we could edit the words of that old worship song to say, "More love, less posturing, more acceptance of others gifts in my life"? But if our hearts could change to be more loving towards each other in this area, maybe our songs could stay the same.
So, if you have the spiritual gift of administration, or service, or acts of mercy, or celibacy, you are an important and necessary part of our Body. You matter. We need you. Be encouraged that God made you for a purpose and that He has gifted you to be a blessing to others. Even if they don't accept you, or your gifting, you can love and serve them anyway because of the example of Jesus.
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." - 1 Cor 13:13
- http://www.keithgiles.com
**
BIBLICAL LISTINGS OF THE 28 SPIRITUAL GIFTS OF THE SPIRT
*Ephesians 4:11
Apostles; Prophets; Evangelists; Pastors; Teachers.
*1 Cor 12:8-11
Word of Wisdom; Word of Knowledge; Faith; Healing; Miracles; Prophecy; Discerning Spirits; Tongues; Interpreting tongues.
*Romans 12:6-8
Prophecy; Service; Teaching; Exhortation; Giving; Leading; Acts of Mercy
*Miscellaneous
Administration (1 Cor 12:28); Hospitality (1 Pet 4:10); Celibacy (1 Cor 7:7); Martyrdom (1 Cor 13:3); Prophesying in Song (1 Chr 25:2 & 7); Prophesying with instruments (1 Chr 25: 1 & 6); Craftsmanship (Ex 31:3); Dream interpretation (Gen 41:12)
**
JOB SEARCH: I'm still on the hunt for a new full-time job. So, if you know of any great ministries or organizations looking for someone with a background in writing, sales, marketing, or teaching, please feel free to let me know. Otherwise, I appreciate your prayers for our family during this time of transition.
**
CHURCH IN THE PARK: Several of us at "The Mission" house church have been praying about starting a Sunday Morning Church in a local park. Our plan is to simply gather, share food, invite strangers to join us, study the Gospels and worship and pray for each other under a tree somewhere each Sunday morning. This has been a wonderful answer to my prayers and I'm excited about stepping out into the community to "be the church" in a public place. Please pray for us as we step out!
**
COMING SOON:
New articles are brewing in my little brain. Here's a glimpse of what's on the back burner...
*SUBVERSIVE ARTS: A plan to influence culture via creative subversion.
*THE COMMANDS OF JESUS: In the Great Commission, Jesus gave instructions for His disciples to teach others to obey all that He had commanded. Most of us don't know what those commands were. I think we need to know. At least, I do.
*HOUSE CHURCH 101: What is house church? How is it different from traditional church? A practical observation of basic house church practices.
**
To reply to this email, please don't reply to this message. I will not get it. Instead, email me direct at:
elysiansky(at)hotmail(dot)com
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
Saturday, September 09, 2006
[subversive underground] WONDERS
TO REPLY TO THIS EMAIL PLEASE DON'T HIT "REPLY".
I WILL NOT GET IT!
INSTEAD- Send any responses to me directly at:
"elysiansky" (at) "HOTMAIL" (dot) "com"
**
WONDERS by Keith Giles
Even as a former Southern Baptist pastor, I am one who believes in the miraculous. I have seen and experienced the touch of God in my life and I know that God is still in the business of healing the sick and raising the dead.
For example, when I was in High School, my father fell off our house and crushed three of his vertebrae. One was cracked, one was crushed, and one was powdered. The Doctors took X-Rays and showed him the damage. He was told that, even if they could find the best surgeon in the world to do the operation, he would have only a fifty-fifty chance of being paralyzed from the neck down.
A few days later, just before he was to have a CAT Scan on the injury, our pastor and one of our deacons dropped by to pray for my Dad. The next day the Doctor apologized to my Dad because he said he was holding an X-Ray in one hand, showing the damage, and a CAT Scan in the other, showing that everything was fully healed.
To this day my father is alive and has no problems with his neck. God healed him miraculously.
I have also seen my oldest son, who couldn’t keep any food down for hours, healed instantly when we prayed for him. His fever left, his appetite returned and he ate like a horse.
Time and again I have been a first-hand witness to the power of God to heal.
Having said that, I am compelled to address the tendency some have to pursue signs and wonders more than they pursue following Jesus in humility and obedience.
There is a verse of scripture that is often misused when the discussion of signs and wonders comes up. In John 14:12, Jesus tells his followers, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it. If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- the Spirit of truth.”
Most who quote this passage usually stop at the part where Jesus says, “He will do even greater things...” because that’s what they want to hear. However, when you read this entire chapter in context, the overall sense of what Jesus is trying to say is tied to obedience and submission to Him and to His teaching. As He continues on in this same chapter, Jesus says, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.” And later on in the same chapter Jesus says again, “..If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching…He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.”
Jesus obviously is concerned here that His disciples take Him seriously and obey what He commands. That much is clear. The Lord Jesus wants us to devote ourselves to His teaching and allow Him to lead our lives.
Jesus does say that those who have faith in Him will also do what Jesus has done. But does that necessarily mean “work miracles”? Most usually do assume that he means “Signs and Wonders” exclusively, however an honest look at the ministry and life of Jesus reveals that, aside from the miracles, Jesus also did a few other things too.
What are the things that Jesus did? Jesus was one who loved the unlovable, he showed compassion to the broken and lonely, he confronted the religious teachers of the day regarding hypocrisy and he preached the Good News of the Kingdom to the most sinful people in the society around him.
What I wish people would see is that Jesus is inviting His followers, you and I included, to live their lives exactly as He did.
Just one chapter previous to this, (in chapter 15, verse 12), Jesus washes His disciples feet. Then he says, “Do you understand what I have done for you?...Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”
Why can’t we get excited about this verse the way we get excited about the verse one page over where Jesus seems to suggest we get to have a healing ministry where the dead are raised to life?
Again, I know that God does raise the dead. I’m not arguing this point. I am concerned that we play favorites with the commands and promises of Jesus. I am concerned that we only want to follow the parts of the Gospel that we like best and we want to forget the parts that are inconvenient.
In context, Jesus is saying that, if we have faith in him, we will both follow him obediently, doing whatever He commands, and in so doing He will bring glory to the Father whenever the miraculous is necessary to advance the Kingdom.
The verse in John chapter 14 is teaching us to follow the example of Jesus, to wash people’s feet, to love the least and the lost, to have compassion on the blind and the deaf, and to love them as He loved them. In this same attitude of compassion for people, Jesus urges us to pray and ask for God to heal them, so that the Father might be glorified.
The testimony of the early church, as seen in the book of Acts, and in the first 300 years of church history, is that those who heard Jesus say this took it to heart. They did continue the compassionate ministry of Jesus to the poor. They did sell their homes and land in order to buy food and support widows and orphans. They did have compassion on the leper and the blind. They did heal many of them miraculously in the power of the name of Jesus.
My point is that the early Christians did both. They showed compassion to the poor and the sick, and they also prayed for them in faith so that they might be healed.
What they didn’t do was to ignore the part about serving the poor (because who wants to do that?) and jump straight to the part where Jesus tells us we get to do “even greater things” than He did.
First, we must begin with the simple obedience to Jesus that compels us to wash the feet of others, as He did. Jesus urged His disciples that just knowing this wasn’t enough. “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:17)
The problem is, we have it in our heads that, if we know the words of Jesus we will be blessed. Jesus emphatically says, “No!” here. Instead, Jesus promises that, once we know these things, the blessing only comes “if you do them.”
The question is, when are we going to start? If we don’t begin by doing the things that Jesus was doing, I believe we will never get to the place where we can do even greater things than He did.
One chapter later, Jesus is reminding His disciples that “without me you can do nothing.” - (John 15:5)
My hope is that, as we begin to embrace all of what Jesus taught us, walking as He walked, serving as He served, loving as He loved, we might find that we’re not so uptight about whether or not God works a miraculous healing in our midst or not.
I am convinced that the greatest miracle any of us will ever experience is the transformation of our weak, empty lives into the glorious image of Jesus Himself.
This miracle begins when we surrender to Jesus. It begins when we realize that He is the Lord of Glory and we lay down our lives in obedience to Him, taking up our own cross daily to follow Him, one day at a time.
What more can we ask for than this? How could we ever truly understand the miracle of knowing the Creator of the Universe as a friend, as an adoptive Father, and still audaciously cry out “More, Lord, More!”?
On that day, two thousand years ago, when the Father allowed His perfect Son to suffer and die in our place, enduring shame, humiliation and torment; taking our place on a rugged cross outside Jerusalem; the power of God was revealed in all of its unspeakable Glory.
There can never be any greater sign or wonder given to any of us than this.
-kg
**
STILL LOOKING: I'm still on the job trail after over two months of searching. Please keep me in your prayers as I seek for God's direction and guidance for a new fulltime job.
**
PRAY: Things are moving forward with a possible Sunday Morning gathering where we can go out into the community and "be the church", possibly in a park nearby. More details later...
**
NEW ARTICLES: If you've not been by the main site recently, there are a lot of new articles to check out. Such as...
*OUT OF THE BLUE
*JESUS THE RADICAL
*A TEST OF FAITH
*THE HOUSE OF ELEVEN WINDOWS
*HOW TO EMPOWER OTHERS
*SECOND REFORMATION BY BOB SEARS
*CELEBRATION OF SECRECY
**
*TO REPLY TO THIS EMAIL PLEASE DON'T HIT "REPLY". I WILL NOT GET IT!
INSTEAD: Send any responses to me directly at:
"elysiansky" (at) "HOTMAIL" (dot) "com"
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
I WILL NOT GET IT!
INSTEAD- Send any responses to me directly at:
"elysiansky" (at) "HOTMAIL" (dot) "com"
**
WONDERS by Keith Giles
Even as a former Southern Baptist pastor, I am one who believes in the miraculous. I have seen and experienced the touch of God in my life and I know that God is still in the business of healing the sick and raising the dead.
For example, when I was in High School, my father fell off our house and crushed three of his vertebrae. One was cracked, one was crushed, and one was powdered. The Doctors took X-Rays and showed him the damage. He was told that, even if they could find the best surgeon in the world to do the operation, he would have only a fifty-fifty chance of being paralyzed from the neck down.
A few days later, just before he was to have a CAT Scan on the injury, our pastor and one of our deacons dropped by to pray for my Dad. The next day the Doctor apologized to my Dad because he said he was holding an X-Ray in one hand, showing the damage, and a CAT Scan in the other, showing that everything was fully healed.
To this day my father is alive and has no problems with his neck. God healed him miraculously.
I have also seen my oldest son, who couldn’t keep any food down for hours, healed instantly when we prayed for him. His fever left, his appetite returned and he ate like a horse.
Time and again I have been a first-hand witness to the power of God to heal.
Having said that, I am compelled to address the tendency some have to pursue signs and wonders more than they pursue following Jesus in humility and obedience.
There is a verse of scripture that is often misused when the discussion of signs and wonders comes up. In John 14:12, Jesus tells his followers, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it. If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- the Spirit of truth.”
Most who quote this passage usually stop at the part where Jesus says, “He will do even greater things...” because that’s what they want to hear. However, when you read this entire chapter in context, the overall sense of what Jesus is trying to say is tied to obedience and submission to Him and to His teaching. As He continues on in this same chapter, Jesus says, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.” And later on in the same chapter Jesus says again, “..If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching…He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.”
Jesus obviously is concerned here that His disciples take Him seriously and obey what He commands. That much is clear. The Lord Jesus wants us to devote ourselves to His teaching and allow Him to lead our lives.
Jesus does say that those who have faith in Him will also do what Jesus has done. But does that necessarily mean “work miracles”? Most usually do assume that he means “Signs and Wonders” exclusively, however an honest look at the ministry and life of Jesus reveals that, aside from the miracles, Jesus also did a few other things too.
What are the things that Jesus did? Jesus was one who loved the unlovable, he showed compassion to the broken and lonely, he confronted the religious teachers of the day regarding hypocrisy and he preached the Good News of the Kingdom to the most sinful people in the society around him.
What I wish people would see is that Jesus is inviting His followers, you and I included, to live their lives exactly as He did.
Just one chapter previous to this, (in chapter 15, verse 12), Jesus washes His disciples feet. Then he says, “Do you understand what I have done for you?...Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”
Why can’t we get excited about this verse the way we get excited about the verse one page over where Jesus seems to suggest we get to have a healing ministry where the dead are raised to life?
Again, I know that God does raise the dead. I’m not arguing this point. I am concerned that we play favorites with the commands and promises of Jesus. I am concerned that we only want to follow the parts of the Gospel that we like best and we want to forget the parts that are inconvenient.
In context, Jesus is saying that, if we have faith in him, we will both follow him obediently, doing whatever He commands, and in so doing He will bring glory to the Father whenever the miraculous is necessary to advance the Kingdom.
The verse in John chapter 14 is teaching us to follow the example of Jesus, to wash people’s feet, to love the least and the lost, to have compassion on the blind and the deaf, and to love them as He loved them. In this same attitude of compassion for people, Jesus urges us to pray and ask for God to heal them, so that the Father might be glorified.
The testimony of the early church, as seen in the book of Acts, and in the first 300 years of church history, is that those who heard Jesus say this took it to heart. They did continue the compassionate ministry of Jesus to the poor. They did sell their homes and land in order to buy food and support widows and orphans. They did have compassion on the leper and the blind. They did heal many of them miraculously in the power of the name of Jesus.
My point is that the early Christians did both. They showed compassion to the poor and the sick, and they also prayed for them in faith so that they might be healed.
What they didn’t do was to ignore the part about serving the poor (because who wants to do that?) and jump straight to the part where Jesus tells us we get to do “even greater things” than He did.
First, we must begin with the simple obedience to Jesus that compels us to wash the feet of others, as He did. Jesus urged His disciples that just knowing this wasn’t enough. “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:17)
The problem is, we have it in our heads that, if we know the words of Jesus we will be blessed. Jesus emphatically says, “No!” here. Instead, Jesus promises that, once we know these things, the blessing only comes “if you do them.”
The question is, when are we going to start? If we don’t begin by doing the things that Jesus was doing, I believe we will never get to the place where we can do even greater things than He did.
One chapter later, Jesus is reminding His disciples that “without me you can do nothing.” - (John 15:5)
My hope is that, as we begin to embrace all of what Jesus taught us, walking as He walked, serving as He served, loving as He loved, we might find that we’re not so uptight about whether or not God works a miraculous healing in our midst or not.
I am convinced that the greatest miracle any of us will ever experience is the transformation of our weak, empty lives into the glorious image of Jesus Himself.
This miracle begins when we surrender to Jesus. It begins when we realize that He is the Lord of Glory and we lay down our lives in obedience to Him, taking up our own cross daily to follow Him, one day at a time.
What more can we ask for than this? How could we ever truly understand the miracle of knowing the Creator of the Universe as a friend, as an adoptive Father, and still audaciously cry out “More, Lord, More!”?
On that day, two thousand years ago, when the Father allowed His perfect Son to suffer and die in our place, enduring shame, humiliation and torment; taking our place on a rugged cross outside Jerusalem; the power of God was revealed in all of its unspeakable Glory.
There can never be any greater sign or wonder given to any of us than this.
-kg
**
STILL LOOKING: I'm still on the job trail after over two months of searching. Please keep me in your prayers as I seek for God's direction and guidance for a new fulltime job.
**
PRAY: Things are moving forward with a possible Sunday Morning gathering where we can go out into the community and "be the church", possibly in a park nearby. More details later...
**
NEW ARTICLES: If you've not been by the main site recently, there are a lot of new articles to check out. Such as...
*OUT OF THE BLUE
*JESUS THE RADICAL
*A TEST OF FAITH
*THE HOUSE OF ELEVEN WINDOWS
*HOW TO EMPOWER OTHERS
*SECOND REFORMATION BY BOB SEARS
*CELEBRATION OF SECRECY
**
*TO REPLY TO THIS EMAIL PLEASE DON'T HIT "REPLY". I WILL NOT GET IT!
INSTEAD: Send any responses to me directly at:
"elysiansky" (at) "HOTMAIL" (dot) "com"
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
Saturday, September 02, 2006
[subversive underground] SIGNS
SIGNS AND WONDERS by Keith Giles
In my brief career as an on-staff pastor over the last fifteen years, I’ve noticed a curious trend that has continued to perplex me. It’s the contemporary bent towards a desire to experience the next “Azusa Street” or “Brownsville Revival”, or “Toronto Blessing”. Of course, these tendencies are more prevalent in certain circles, but it’s something I’ve had to deal with, or at least to observe from a distance.
My first reaction to this sort of desire to see signs and wonders displayed in the Sunday morning service is to ask, “Why?” I mean, honestly, I don’t get it. Do we seek after signs and wonders in order to put butts in the seats? I confess, my immediate guess is that many senior pastors seek after this sort of miraculous outpouring because it will bring more people to their church and increase their ministry. Never mind that, to increase their ministry they could simply practice evangelism, and train their people to share their faith in more effective ways. If more people were coming to faith in Christ, wouldn’t that be miracle enough? Have we forgotten that salvation itself is a miracle of God too?
Perhaps the search for signs and wonders is the symptom of a lack of faith? It seems ironic, but I think it’s possible that, in some cases, the two are connected. Because the people have a weak faith life, or their walk with Jesus is getting predictable, they surmise that what is needed is a jolt of a good old-fashioned miracle on a Sunday morning. This is indicative of someone who wants a short-cut to maturity of faith. Rather than to practice the spiritual disciplines and learn to surrender to Christ on a daily basis, they would rather that God simply touch them and zap them into a greater sense of love and commitment to Himself. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.
I’ve actually heard pastors cry out for God to “Raise the Dead” or declare that they want to see “Blind eyes opened, deaf ears hear”, and what they don’t realize is that, for the dead to be raised in our midst, one of us will have to die. In order to see the miraculous cure, you have to go where the broken, the infirmed, the dieing, are at. Or maybe we'll have to be the one's who suffer so that we can experience the touch of God on our lives.
Jesus experienced this same phenomenon in his ministry. As he traveled around healing people, he began to draw large crowds. True enough, the solution to a sagging attendance is the miraculous. However, Jesus did all he could to discourage this kind of growth. He saw it as an artificial growth based on superficiality. To counteract this, Jesus would ask those he healed from blindness and deafness not to tell anyone about what had happened to them, but to keep it a secret. Of course, no one can keep secret when they’ve been miraculously healed, so they did tell everyone and Jesus would end up leaving that region because the crowds would grow too large for him to operate.
Do you get that? Jesus spent his time healing people, not to draw crowds, but simply because he loved people. The Gospels tell us, time and again, that Jesus would look upon the persons in need and that he had compassion on them and healed them. His miracles were not about putting butts in the seats, or about growing his ministry. It wasn’t about spreading his own personal fame. It wasn’t about the show. It was simply about compassion.
I sometimes wonder if the reason more churches in American aren’t experiencing the miraculous outpouring of signs and wonders is connected to their lack of compassion for the sick and the broken, the dieing and the lame.
If we were all as desperate to see people made well, out of a sincere compassion for them, as we were to see God do a magic show for us, perhaps we’d see the power of God poured out again?
Maybe what we lack in our churches isn’t faith, but simple compassion for others?
If we wanted God to heal someone because we genuinely loved them as He did, and not out of a desire for personal gain, or for the entertainment factor, perhaps the Spirit of God would open up Heaven and rain down upon us all the power we needed to help people in need?
Even if we changed our hearts and began to develop a love for other people, it would be a forward step in itself, regardless of whether or not God were to do a miracle in our midst. At least we’d become a people with a heart like His, and I for one would prefer to be a follower of Jesus who had a heart like His than to be a filled with the power to heal and have a heart that is proud and self-serving.
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love…if I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains…if I give all that I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” – 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
-kg
***
EMPLOYMENT UPDATE: I've been working temporarily at The Healthcare Foundation For Orange County as an administrative assistant. This could turn into a full-time job. Not sure yet what I want to do, but I'm praying for God's direction. Thanks to everyone who has been praying my job search. Keep on praying!
**
UPCOMING ARTICLES: I've been brewing up a few new articles lately. Here's a quick snapshot of things to come...
1) "Subversive Arts"- A while back my friends Scott Laumann, Bill Burgess and I were praying and strategizing about a way to confront the culture via the arts. I came across some of our correspondence during that time and want to re-visit some of these ideas. Maybe some of you want to do something similar? We'll see...
2) "Practive vs Belief"- I've been mulling over the discussion of practicing Christianity versus the idea that belief is enough. There is a tension between knowledge, truth, doctrine, and the simple practice of living a life like Jesus. Are the two things mutually exclusive? What is the proper balance between belief and practice?
3) "The Mission: Emerging Missionaries"- I'm witnessing a wonderul stage of growth in our house church members. We're learning from one another how to discover our mission field and step out into the world as messengers of The Kingdom.
4) "Starting A Non-Profit?"- Lately I'm thinking more and more about the feasiblity of starting my own non-profit that would care for children here in Orange County who live in motels, or on the streets. This would tie into the ministry to under-age prostitutes as well.
**
THE GOSPEL: FOR HERE OR TO GO?- Part 3 is up now at Ginkworld.net. Part 2 is up at CMAResources.com. The complete booklet (with additional material) will be self-published before the end of this year (I hope). More later...
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
In my brief career as an on-staff pastor over the last fifteen years, I’ve noticed a curious trend that has continued to perplex me. It’s the contemporary bent towards a desire to experience the next “Azusa Street” or “Brownsville Revival”, or “Toronto Blessing”. Of course, these tendencies are more prevalent in certain circles, but it’s something I’ve had to deal with, or at least to observe from a distance.
My first reaction to this sort of desire to see signs and wonders displayed in the Sunday morning service is to ask, “Why?” I mean, honestly, I don’t get it. Do we seek after signs and wonders in order to put butts in the seats? I confess, my immediate guess is that many senior pastors seek after this sort of miraculous outpouring because it will bring more people to their church and increase their ministry. Never mind that, to increase their ministry they could simply practice evangelism, and train their people to share their faith in more effective ways. If more people were coming to faith in Christ, wouldn’t that be miracle enough? Have we forgotten that salvation itself is a miracle of God too?
Perhaps the search for signs and wonders is the symptom of a lack of faith? It seems ironic, but I think it’s possible that, in some cases, the two are connected. Because the people have a weak faith life, or their walk with Jesus is getting predictable, they surmise that what is needed is a jolt of a good old-fashioned miracle on a Sunday morning. This is indicative of someone who wants a short-cut to maturity of faith. Rather than to practice the spiritual disciplines and learn to surrender to Christ on a daily basis, they would rather that God simply touch them and zap them into a greater sense of love and commitment to Himself. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.
I’ve actually heard pastors cry out for God to “Raise the Dead” or declare that they want to see “Blind eyes opened, deaf ears hear”, and what they don’t realize is that, for the dead to be raised in our midst, one of us will have to die. In order to see the miraculous cure, you have to go where the broken, the infirmed, the dieing, are at. Or maybe we'll have to be the one's who suffer so that we can experience the touch of God on our lives.
Jesus experienced this same phenomenon in his ministry. As he traveled around healing people, he began to draw large crowds. True enough, the solution to a sagging attendance is the miraculous. However, Jesus did all he could to discourage this kind of growth. He saw it as an artificial growth based on superficiality. To counteract this, Jesus would ask those he healed from blindness and deafness not to tell anyone about what had happened to them, but to keep it a secret. Of course, no one can keep secret when they’ve been miraculously healed, so they did tell everyone and Jesus would end up leaving that region because the crowds would grow too large for him to operate.
Do you get that? Jesus spent his time healing people, not to draw crowds, but simply because he loved people. The Gospels tell us, time and again, that Jesus would look upon the persons in need and that he had compassion on them and healed them. His miracles were not about putting butts in the seats, or about growing his ministry. It wasn’t about spreading his own personal fame. It wasn’t about the show. It was simply about compassion.
I sometimes wonder if the reason more churches in American aren’t experiencing the miraculous outpouring of signs and wonders is connected to their lack of compassion for the sick and the broken, the dieing and the lame.
If we were all as desperate to see people made well, out of a sincere compassion for them, as we were to see God do a magic show for us, perhaps we’d see the power of God poured out again?
Maybe what we lack in our churches isn’t faith, but simple compassion for others?
If we wanted God to heal someone because we genuinely loved them as He did, and not out of a desire for personal gain, or for the entertainment factor, perhaps the Spirit of God would open up Heaven and rain down upon us all the power we needed to help people in need?
Even if we changed our hearts and began to develop a love for other people, it would be a forward step in itself, regardless of whether or not God were to do a miracle in our midst. At least we’d become a people with a heart like His, and I for one would prefer to be a follower of Jesus who had a heart like His than to be a filled with the power to heal and have a heart that is proud and self-serving.
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love…if I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains…if I give all that I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” – 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
-kg
***
EMPLOYMENT UPDATE: I've been working temporarily at The Healthcare Foundation For Orange County as an administrative assistant. This could turn into a full-time job. Not sure yet what I want to do, but I'm praying for God's direction. Thanks to everyone who has been praying my job search. Keep on praying!
**
UPCOMING ARTICLES: I've been brewing up a few new articles lately. Here's a quick snapshot of things to come...
1) "Subversive Arts"- A while back my friends Scott Laumann, Bill Burgess and I were praying and strategizing about a way to confront the culture via the arts. I came across some of our correspondence during that time and want to re-visit some of these ideas. Maybe some of you want to do something similar? We'll see...
2) "Practive vs Belief"- I've been mulling over the discussion of practicing Christianity versus the idea that belief is enough. There is a tension between knowledge, truth, doctrine, and the simple practice of living a life like Jesus. Are the two things mutually exclusive? What is the proper balance between belief and practice?
3) "The Mission: Emerging Missionaries"- I'm witnessing a wonderul stage of growth in our house church members. We're learning from one another how to discover our mission field and step out into the world as messengers of The Kingdom.
4) "Starting A Non-Profit?"- Lately I'm thinking more and more about the feasiblity of starting my own non-profit that would care for children here in Orange County who live in motels, or on the streets. This would tie into the ministry to under-age prostitutes as well.
**
THE GOSPEL: FOR HERE OR TO GO?- Part 3 is up now at Ginkworld.net. Part 2 is up at CMAResources.com. The complete booklet (with additional material) will be self-published before the end of this year (I hope). More later...
**
[END TRANSMISSION]
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