IT'S YOUR FUNERAL

It's Your Funeral
by Keith Giles

There's something amazing that happens to me whenever I attend a funeral. As friends and family members step up to the microphone and share their fondest memories of the departed, I can't help but wonder who will stand up at my funeral, and what will they say about me when I'm gone?

I know what I'd like them to say. I'd hope that my best friends would tell stories of how I've encouraged them or about a time when I helped them in a time of need. I'd hope that my wife would share about how thoughtful a husband I was. I'd love to think my sons would stand and share about how something I taught them about life, or about character, or about integrity had stuck with them through the years and allowed them to grow as individuals. I'd love to think that the crowd would be full of people who were inspired by my writing or my books, or who were touched or blessed in some way by my acts of service or compassion.

I'd love to think that, on the day they put me into the dirt, there will be a church somewhere filled with people who were blessed and touched and inspired by my life.

But the question, of course, is will there really be anyone eager to say these things about me?

I recently watched a little-known film called "The Lookout" which I really enjoyed. In the film, the main character is a young man who made a mistake on his graduation night that took the lives of his best friends and left him with a severe brain disorder. In the film he struggles to remember simple instructions due to his brain damage. He has trouble with completing things in sequence.

There's a scene in the film where one of his friends gives him some advice on how to accomplish a simple task. He says, "Start at the end and work backwards from there." When he tries it he discovers that it works, and this becomes a great metaphor in the film for how all of us can cope with our struggles.

I think of that statement now as I ponder what my funeral will look like. I have a picture in my head of what I'd hope that day to look like and how I'd love for things to play out as friends and family gather to remember my life.

The best way for me to insure that my vision of that day comes to fruition is to start at the end and work backwards from there. It means I need to live my life today in a consistent and intentional way. If I want my wife to speak glowingly of my thoughtfulness at my funeral, it means I need to be sure to be thoughtful to her today. If I want my sons to tell stories about how I inspired them to be better men of God at my memorial service, it means I have to inspire them today to be better men of God.

What do you hope your friends and family will say of you on that day? Maybe we need to consider this as we live out our daily lives. Maybe we should start at the end and work backwards from there?

It's your funeral.

kg

**
SEND GAP CLOTHES BACK- Dec.16th Protest adds 3 major cities.
Hundreds of protestors will return their Gap, Inc. clothes (including Old Navy and Bannana Republic) on Dec.16th to speak out against the retail giant's use of children as slaves to create their clothing.

Gap Protest Locations:
Costa Mesa, San Francisco, Miami and New York

Find out more at:
http://www.sendgapclothesback.com

Read the complete Press Release:
http://www.keithgiles.com

**
NON-CON REGISTRATION NOW ONLINE
Saturday, March 15th, 2008
"More of a conversation than a conference"
-Jackie Pullinger, David Ruis, Cindy Reithmeier, John Thomas, Keith Giles

THE NON-CON '08 UPDATE:

Registered to date: 25
Seats left: 75

Attendance by State:
CA - 16
CT- 3
TX - 4
AZ - 1
OK - 1

GUYS- 12, GALS -13

More info and online registration at:
http://www.Non-Con.com

**
DOWNLOAD MY BOOKS FREE OF CHARGE
More info at my main site here:
http://www.keithgiles.com/

**
[END TRANSMISSION]

Defending The (Christian) Subculture

Defending The (Christian) Subculture
By Keith Giles

At the moment there are two articles over at TheOoze.com on the evils of the Christian Subculture written by yours truly. So far the response has been largely favorable, but there have been a few vocal defenders of the Subculture who have risen up against my attack. To be honest, I did expect to get negative feedback on these articles. In fact, my greatest surprise came when I received such vocal support in favor of my position that the Christian Subculture must die.

As I ponder on the ferocity of such impassioned defense, I have to admit I don't understand what it is that people feel they are protecting. What is it they are defending? I wonder if those who oppose my attack on the Christian Subculture have blurred the line between the Christian Marketplace and the Kingdom of God?

One detractor said as much, "...to rant about destroying the Christian Subculture is nothing less than a call to destroy the church universal." (from 'b0bbieb0b' over at TheOoze.com)

But this is a great and serious misunderstanding of what the Christian Subculture actually is. The Christian Subculture is NOT the Church Universal.

This response is similar to what I hear when I suggest that the Church isn't a building or an entrepreneurial venture lead by professional clergy. People in the modern American Church have blurred the lines between corporate expressions of worship, the consumer-driven subculture, the actual Church, and the Kingdom of God.

For example, Biblically the only building spoken of regarding the Church is you and I.

"You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." - 1 Peter 2:5

The Church, then, as Paul and Peter describe it in their epistles, is made up only of people, not some structure built by human hands.

So the Church is not a specific building where believers gather each week. That is not "The Church". This means that if you were to leave First Baptist of Tulsa in order to start a house church in your living room, you have NOT "Left the Church" because you ARE the Church.

The only way to "Leave the Church" would be to walk away from Jesus and follow another religious belief system entirely.

The Christian Subculture is also not the Church. It is a man-made system of thought that encourages followers of Jesus to express their identity through the consumption of "Jesus-Branded" products and services. It exists to perpetuate its own existence and success through the sale of more and more "Jesus-Branded" products and services. It creates and encourages a climate of "Us vs Them" between Christians and Non-Christians in order to sell more product. The catch words for this Subculture are "Safety", "Comfort" and "Sacred".

Apparently people cannot imagine being a follower of Jesus apart from this Christian Subculture. Why is that? Is it that we've been conditioned for so long to exist and behave and participate in this way that the idea of being just a simple follower of Jesus is foreign to us? Why is it so unthinkable that you and I could enjoy a vibrant, deep and intense relationship with Jesus apart from the Christian Marketplace?

What I also find fascinating is how this Christian Subculture is largely an American creation. Friends of mine in England find it hilarious that we publish "Christian Phone Directories" where believers can call a Christian Plumber to fix their toilet or a Christian Pizza parlor to deliver their pizza.

I'm currently reading the book "Walk On" by Steve Stockman. It's a look at the spiritual journey of Bono, The Edge and Larry Mullen, Jr., who, collectively with bassist Adam Clayton, are known as the Irish rock band "U2". In the book Stockman points out early on that U2 managed to become the most spiritually relevant band in the world today because they managed to avoid the clutches of the Christian Subculture. Had they felt the need to create music that would be acceptable to the religious set, the band would have relegated itself, and its message, to obscurity.

There is a serious need in today's American Church for a re-education of terminology. We need to understand the difference between The Church, the Subculture, and The Kingdom of God. These are key elements for us to find clarity on, otherwise we will become confused and easily lead astray by the masses.

I suppose I can understand that this sort of thinking will take time to settle into people's minds. This is a new way of talking and it's against the grain for thousands of people and we're up against hundreds of years of tradition.

The exciting thing for me is that God is beginning to call His people out of this quagmire. He is burning away the dross and exposing the beautiful, radiant Bride underneath.

Let's get the fire started, shall we?
-kg

**
NON-CON REGISTRATION NOW ONLINE
Saturday, March 15th, 2008
"More of a conversation than a conference"

At this point there are less than 74 seats still left available.
More info online at:http://www.non-con.com/

**
DOWNLOAD MY BOOKS FREE OF CHARGE
More info at my main site here:
http://www.keithgiles.com/

**
CLOSE THE GAP
For more info on the "Send Gap Clothes Back" Protest on Dec.16th go here:http://www.sendgapclothesback.com/

On Dec.16th, 2007, hundreds of young people will gather at Gap Stores around the country to give back their GAP, Inc. clothing in order to protest the retail chain's slave labor practices.

"December 16th is the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party," said J.R., organizer of the planned protest. "We want to make a similar statement, as young people who have helped Gap build their clothing empire with our clothing purchases, that we no longer want to buy our clothes from an organization that supports or employs child slaves to produce their products."

The planned event will involve hundreds of young protesters who are encouraged to bring all of their Gap, Inc. clothes items (which include Bannanna Republic and Old Navy) to the nearest Gap store and drop them on the front doorstep with a note to the owners that they will no longer support the retail chain or purchase their clothes.

**
[END TRANSMISSION]

JUMPING THE SHARK

[Subversive Underground]

Jumping The Shark
By Keith Giles

A recent study by Barna Group, a Christian Research agency, reports a sharp increase in skepticism about Christianity and a resistance to the Gospel message among young people aged 16 to 29 years old.

*The full study is found here:
http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=280

Some have suggested that Christianity in America “Jumped the Shark” a long time ago, but reports such as this one certainly give ammunition to fuel assertions such as these.

We have to face the fact that, by and large, our most popular leaders have communicated a message that is divisive and separatist in nature. Our churches have not engaged the community. Our focus has largely been on ourselves, our buildings, our programs, our talent, enlarging our ghetto. We’ve not loved our neighbor as ourselves. We’ve not put the needs of others above our own. We have not taught others to obey all that Jesus commanded us. We have failed to obey him ourselves. We have forgotten our call to be Salt and Light in this world and it’s time to repent.

According to the report by Barna (linked above) the younger generation is turned off by the anti-homosexual posture of the Christian Church in America. They are repulsed by our lack of concern for the poor. They are incensed at our judgmental attitudes.

Common negative perceptions (among non-Christians) include that present-day Christianity is judgmental (87%), hypocritical (85%), old-fashioned (78%), and too involved in politics (75%) - representing large proportions of young outsiders who attach these negative labels to Christians.

Even among young Christians, many of the negative images generated significant traction. Half of young churchgoers said they perceive Christianity to be judgmental, hypocritical, and too political. One-third said it was old-fashioned and out of touch with reality.

Reading this makes me want to get on my knees and pray for pastors across America to wake up and smell the coffee. We need leaders in our churches who are willing to take a stand and start swimming upstream. We have to disentangle ourselves from the popular Christian Subculture that encourages us to remain aloof from the society around us. We have to disengage from the political component that co-opts the Republican Party under the banner of Christianity. We have to stop posturing ourselves as a people who are “Against” something and start getting involved in demonstrating what it is that we are “For” as followers of Jesus.

"Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." (1 Peter 2:12)

How we live is just as important, perhaps even more important, than what we say. Our message must be lived out, demonstrated in action, if we ever hope to regain the ground we've lost with this current generation of young people.

Hopefully by now we’ve started to see that it really matters what we say. It really matters what we do. Actions really do speak louder than words and our behavior as ambassadors of Christ over the last few decades has suffered greatly.

This is why I’ve recently written articles about the need to re-define what it means to follow Jesus. Calling ourselves “Christian” says nothing about who we really are or how we live our lives.

A whopping 89% of most Americans would call themselves “Christian” and do so without any real thought as to what that might suggest about how they should live out their everyday life.

We cannot hide behind a label and excuse the hateful behaviors of those who call themselves after the name of Jesus. We have to start living life against the grain.

This is the Christian life. This is what it means to follow Jesus. This is subversive.

*kg

**
NON-CON REGISTRATION NOW ONLINE
Saturday, March 15th, 2008
"More of a conversation than a conference"

At this point there are less than 89 seats still left available.

More info online at:
http://www.non-con.com/


**
NEXT TIME LET’S TRY IT JESUS’ WAY, OK?
In a recent article in Christianity Today’s “Out of Ur” blog, is an article outlining the results of a “multi year qualitative study” into “what programs and activities of the church were actually helping people mature spiritually and which were not.”
Being a “program driven” and “seeker sensitive” church, Willowcreek has spent millions of dollars setting up all kinds of programs designed to increase participation and therefore making the participants better disciples of Jesus.
What the research actually showed is that all these programs did not lead people into a deeper relationship with Jesus. Having spent 30 years building this church model and advocating it to others, Hybels has called this report the “wake up call” of his life.
“We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.” - Bill Hybels

**
ARTICLES ONLINE
”Destroy the (Christian) Subculture Part 2” and “Consumption, Expression & Identity” are both online now at http://www.theooze.com/

**
DOWNLOAD BOTH OF MY BOOKS FREE OF CHARGE
More info at my main site here:
http://www.keithgiles.com/

**
[END TRANSMISSION]

7 HABITS OF HIGHLY INEFFECTIVE PASTORS

7 HABITS OF HIGHLY INEFFECTIVE PASTORS
by Keith Giles

These are the 7 habits of the most highly ineffective pastors in America today.

1- Preach and go home. Let someone else do the pastoring. That's what "Associates" are for.

2- Follow what the bigger churches are doing. Why go to the trouble of listening to God's voice? Just copy what the big-guys are doing. It's bound to work, or at least put more butts in the seats.

3- Start a building fund. Nothing says, "Ineffective" like a pastor who pussy-foots over controversial sermon topics in order to keep those pledges rolling in. Don't forget the basketball courts!

4- Act as if your church is the best in town. Ignore those other churches as much as possible, unless you need to refer to them in the negative (see #6).

5- Use people to your own ends. Find gifted, passionate people and get them working as soon as possible. Don't be afraid to overload them, they'll tell you when they've had enough, but then you can probably still give them a few other things to do by teaching them to "delegate". There's a reason 10% of the people in church do 90% of the work...it's pastors like you!

6- Lift your Church status by putting other Churches down. If you must address the fact that there are other churches in your area, make sure to make yourself look good by pointing out the ways you're not "like them". Works like a charm and keeps their butts in your seats doing nothing rather than in some other pew across town doing nothing. Think about it. (see #3).

7- Encourage "Pulpit Evangelism". You're the expert. You've got that seminary degree and those lay people are not equipped to preach the Gospel to their friends. They're likely to screw it up. Rather than waste time teaching them, let them bring the lost to church so you can put that degree to good use. The last thing you want is to make your people believe they can do this without your expertise.

In today's American church what matters is being successful and being successful means putting butts in the seats. Pastoring, caring for people, and being a servant to all takes valuable time away from attracting large crowds and making your services more entertaining for the masses.

To be an effective pastor, learn these 7 habits and do the exact opposite. Care for people, listen to God's voice, don't get distracted by building issues, bless other local ministries, empower your people (don't exploit them), teach more of your people to be disciples and then to make disciples. Multiply yourself and duplicate your ability to teach, train, encourage, disciple and serve others.

What would the "7 Habits of Highly Effective Pastors" look like?

1-Spend time with people. Learn to love them. Devote your time to listening to them. Find out where they are and what they are struggling with before you put together your sermon series. Make sure you're teaching them something they need most and take the time to get to know them. Being a pastor means being a shepherd who cares for the flock. Jesus asked us to feed His sheep and that means making sure they're healthy and that they can put into practice what they believe. It also means you have to practice what you preach as an example to them. Live it out more than you talk it out.

2-Spend time on your knees with God. Develop a habit of listening to God's voice in matters of leading your church. Don't be distracted by the "next big thing" at the mega-church down the street or the newest best-seller on the Christian charts. Remember that making disciples and teaching people to do everything that Jesus commanded is all you're called to do (see the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20). Focus on that, it's hard enough all by itself with adding the flavor of the month idea to the mix.

3-Forget the building, remember the people. The New Testament speaks a lot about the Church building. In context, however, the building is revealed to be the people of God, not a structure or a facility where believers gather to meet, and the process of building this Church is the work of God Himself.

Paul the Apostle refers to the Church as the "Body of Christ" which is made up of many parts. Each part of this Body of Christ is identified as an individual follower of Jesus with a diverse set of gifts and talents bestowed upon each by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of building up and encouraging the entire Body. (see 1 Cor 12:12)

Peter the Apostle also refers to the Church as being made up of living stones as he says in 1 Peter 2:5 "You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." The Church, then, as Paul and Peter describe it in their epistles, is made up only of people, not some structure built by human hands.

4-Partner with other pastors and churches. If there's one thing that I believe God longs to see happen it's local congregations laying aside their petty differences, and their fears of losing members, in order to join hands and advance the Gospel of the Kingdom. I have never been as blessed as when our house church partnered with two other churches (one a mega-church, the other a small college congregation) to pass out free groceries and pray for residents at a poverty motel here in Santa Ana, California. When we stop seeing the other churches in town as our competition and start treating them as our brothers and sisters, even our partners in ministry, then I believe we can really change our world for Christ.

5-Empower your people, don't exploit them. Teach your people to become teachers. If you are in the habit of training others to become trainers of others (this is a very basic principle of discipleship), you will eventually end up with a church full of teachers and trainers who are training others to also be teachers and trainers. Over time your church will become so full of mature ("Graduated") leaders and disciple-makers that your small staff will act mostly as facilitators and not the one's who must always be "hands-on" for every single event/class/lesson/bible study, etc.

I have personally been shocked to see a lack of basic trust among most lead pastors to "give away the ministry" in this way. Many pastors are too afraid to actually empower and release others to do their job. Why? Well, it's pretty obvious that this threatens their authority and job security. But, it doesn't have to. I believe any pastor who actually put this into practice would quickly become the envy of other pastors in their community. They'd get phone calls from other pastors asking, "How do you do it?" and "Can you show me how to do this?"

Start empowering your people. Give them something to do, believe in them, love them, invest in them, give them what you have and provide freedom for them to step out and use their gifts and talents for the Gospel. Encourage their ideas. Make their dreams come true.

6-Bless other churches and ministries in your city. One church I know has a regular habit of tithing out of their General Fund to help other local churches and ministries succeed. They always make sure that they bless others in such a way that the gift does not residually benefit them for the donation. In other words, they give without any concern for how it will help them, only how it will help the sister church in need. That's a great way to practice what Jesus teaches us about loving one another and being known for our love. Bless other churches in your area and make it count.

7- Help your people understand what the Gospel really is and show them how they can live out their faith in practical ways. The important thing to remember is that you are not selling anything. The Gospel is not for sale. You don't need to be a salesman. Your people don’t need to memorize a pitch. You will not track their success on a chart. They will not have to pretend to be someone they are not.

As a free resource I've made my book, "The Gospel: For Here or To Go?" available as a free PDF download over at my main website (http://www.keithgiles.com/).

Start empowering your people to "BE the church" and not just attend one. Mulitply your efforts and start deputizing your Church to live out their faith in practical ways every single day.

That's what it will take to make a difference in today's American Church.
kg
**
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! - In celebration of my birthday month (November) I will be giving the first 5 people who purchase one of my books online a free "Goodie Bag". To qualify you must purchase at least one of my books online and email me your order confirmation # at the end of the order, along with your mailing address. I will send out a free goodie bag to say "Thank You" to those first five people.

What's in the bag?
1) A copy of "The Noise" Magazine. Now out of print, this magazine includes my interview with Jim Wallis as well as articles by David Ruis and Alex Field, plus my articles "De La Soul" and "Lupita's Surprise".
2) Sermon Cd of "The Gospel: For Here or To Go?" - Recorded three years before I sat down to write the book, this is one of the best sermon's I've given on the subject of missional life and it makes a great companion to the book.
3) Jeremy Riddle Cd- Great worship. No charge.
4) "The Da Vinci Code:A Response" (booklet) - A great response to the controversy by Nicky Gumbel, founder of Alpha Ministries.
5) More surprises to be discovered upon opening up your box.

The first five people to email me with their valid order confirmation number will receive the "Goodies" box.

Email me at "elysiansky" (at) "hotmail" (dot) "com"Oh..you can purchase either book at http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=1073843

NOTE: Only good for customers residing in the continental United States. Offer good only for purchases made in November of 2007.

**
NEW ARTICLES ONLINE:
*My articles "NOT A CHRISTIAN" and "CONSUMPTION, EXPRESSION, IDENTITY" are both up now at http://www.theooze.com/ for your enjoyment.
*"WHAT ARE WE AFRAID OF?" is also online at http://www.keithgiles.com/
*"ANOTHER CHRISTIAN VERSION OF.." is also at http://www.keithgiles.com/

**
DO SOMETHING
My friend Greg Russinger is one of the co-founders of this new non-profit dedicated to fighting poverty, exposing human trafficking and assisting orphans around the globe.Don't just sit there. Get involved now.You CAN make a difference!
http://www.just4one.org/

**
SIMPLE CHURCH:
My friend Bob Sears has a great resource website for people wanting to know how to start their own Simple Church/House Church.It's chock-full of wisdom and practical application. Go. See. Learn.
http://www.simple-minded.net/
**
[END TRANSMISSION]

EVERYTHING IS A RENTAL

[SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND]
"Everything Is A Rental" by Keith Giles

In light of the recent fires we've experienced in Southern California I've been thinking about the right perspective of our life here on Earth.

I'm reminded that Peter called us "aliens and strangers in the world" and urged us to indulge in the good things of God rather than the sinful desires of this Earth and that Paul teaches that "...Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that." (1 Timothy 6:6-8)

What does it mean to be content in our society? It's a lost art, I'm afraid. All of our marketing and advertising encourages us, at all times, to be discontent with the things we own and to pursue the newest and best item on the market.

Who knew we all needed to have a pocket-sized device that would carry over 6,000 songs? How did our ancestors live without Blackberry phones and DVD players in the backseat of every car?
I think sometimes that I would love to move to Amish country with my family and leave behind our modern conveniences. Or at least the television and the cell phone.

Jesus had the right idea when he reminded us that our lives are not made up of what we own or what we wear or what we eat. God knows our needs before we ask. He wants us to focus on His Kingdom and on having a good relationship with Him (righteousness).

After one of the largest fires was contained here in Irvine, California, a local news crew interviewed a woman who stood in the smoldering ashes of her former home alongside her husband and children. They extended the microphone under her nose and asked her to describe the sense of loss she felt at seeing her house reduced to embers. The woman looked into the camera and said, "I can't really think about what I've lost when I start to think about what I've gained." The reporter wasn't expecting this so she asked, "What have you gained?" and the woman replied, "I've gained a greater faith in God, I've gained a greater sense of community with my neighbors here on this street, I've gained a greater appreciation for my children and a love for my husband. When I count all of that, what I've lost doesn't seem like so much."

I wanted to have that answer blown up in large letters and posted alongside every major freeway in our State. This is what the fires have taught us. This is the wisdom that God wants us to develop.

As Paul says, "…we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it". How often do we forget that obvious truth? How often do we live our lives as if our joy and our happiness depended on seeing the latest film or attending the coolest party or owning the hippest swag?

Too often.

The Kingdom of this World is passing away. The Kingdoms of Pleasure and Entertainment and Fashion and Vanity are all soon to fade into Eternity. Jesus urges us to look up, to lift our heads and to realize that this blip of life here is soon to give way to an endless life in the presence of God Himself.

Start living for God's Kingdom today. Start investing in the values of His Kingdom where forgiveness and mercy and love and compassion are most important.

Everything you currently own is not really yours. Someone else will drive that car when you're gone. Someone else will wear your clothes when you're dead. Someone else will live in your house when you have left this life.

Everything is a rental.

Hold on loosely.

Peace,Keith
**
"NOT A CHRISTIAN" - The article is up on TheOoze.com on Nov.1st. Be sure to check it out and leave a comment.
http://www.theooze.com
**
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! - In celebration of my birthday month (November) I will be giving the first 5 people who purchase one of my books online a free "Goodie Bag".

To qualify you must purchase at least one of my books online and email me your order confirmation # at the end of the order, along with your mailing address. I will send out a free goodie bag to say "Thank You" to those first five people.

What's in the bag?
1) A copy of "The Noise" Magazine. Now out of print, this magazine includes my interview with Jim Wallis as well as articles by David Ruis and Alex Field, plus my articles "De La Soul" and "Lupita's Surprise".
2) Sermon Cd of "The Gospel: For Here or To Go?" - Recorded three years before I sat down to write the book, this is one of the best sermon's I've given on the subject of missional life and it makes a great companion to the book.
3) Jeremy Riddle Cd- Great worship. No charge.
4) The Da Vinci Code Exposed (booklet) - A great response to the controversy by Nicky Gumbel, founder of Alpha Ministries.
5) More surprises to be discovered upon opening up your box.
The first five people to email me with their valid order confirmation number will receive the "Goodies" box.

Email me at "elysiansky" (at) "hotmail" (dot) "com"
Oh..you can purchase either book at http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=1073843
**
NON-CON: CANCELLED?
Because of unforseen scheduling conflicts, Jackie Pullinger will not be able to join us for the Non-Con in March. Because of this I have decided to cancel the Non-Con as we have come to know it.

Everyone who had planned to attend the event based only on Jackie's appearance will no doubt be very disappointed by this. I regret the change and I apologize for getting your hopes up. Jackie is a wonderful person and one of my personal heroes. Her absence will certainly be felt by all of us.

In a few weeks I will make an announcement regarding a revised agenda and other changes in store for this same weekend in March, which will also be called the "Non-Con" but now, it seems, with even more "Non" than ever before.

It will be smaller. More intense. More intentional. A conversation, not a conference.

Those who still have a desire to gather in a small group with like-minded followers of Jesus, engage in conversation about the poor, missional life and following Him, and who are willing to step outside their comfort zone and serve people in the community for a Saturday will be thrilled to hear what we have in store on March 15th.

This is only the beginning of something more unique and grass-roots. God is in this. It is a very, very good thing.

More details at
http://www.non-con.com
**
DEBATE: IS GOD THE PROBLEM?
If you've got the time you need to watch this debate between noted Atheist Christopher Hitchens ( author of "God Is Not Great") and Dinesh D'Souza ("What's So Great About Christianity?").

You need to know what the greatest (and loudest) voices in our world today are saying about Christianity and Faith in God.

Go. Watch: http://www.tkc.edu/debate/
**
[END TRANSMISSION]

REFINED IN THE FIRE

*APOLOGIES- Last week's [Subversive Underground] was delayed by Feedblitz and I had to send it out manually on Monday. This is the first time I have ever missed a single week of this free, weekly e-newsletter in over 101 consecutive weeks. I apologize for this. Because of last week's article spilling over into this week, I'm sending you two [SU] articles this week in order to keep the article count on track. From now on I will manually send each weekly installment so that this doesn't happen again.
Thanks- kg
**

[Subversive Underground]

REFINED IN THE FIRE
By Keith Giles

As I sit here typing this I am breathing in the smell of smoke. All around me, hundreds of thousands of acres in Southern California are burning. Right now there are thousands of firefighters trying desperately to save people's houses from destruction with nothing more than a shovel, a fire hose and a prayer.

It's difficult to look at the map of California and see fire engulfing the center of the State, from the southern region of San Diego, through Orange County, and north to Riverside County, up into Los Angeles and even Ventura County, and not wonder if this is the end of the world.

I want to say that this is not God's Judgement on the State of California. When that comes I do believe we will know it and it will make this look like a trip to the beach. No, this is not God's Judgement on our State. I do believe, however, that is is a wake up call for many of us.

A few years ago, when I was still on staff at a local, traditional church, our offices burned to the ground. We lost everything. It was sudden and it was swift and it was merciless. It made us thankful for what we still had. It turned our attention away from what we wanted, and what we had lost, and onto what was really important in our lives. It made us grateful for the blessings in hand.

I don't think you have to have your actual house burn down in order to appreciate the lesson of the fire. You can see the devastation. You can watch people stoop to the ground and tearfully pull their damaged treasure from the ash. You can cry along with the elderly couple who had no insurance and now faces an uncertain future of homelessness, poverty, and destitution. You can take stock of your own life and the fire can redefine your definition of happiness.

My family has a saying we developed after enduring a season of prolonged unemployment. During those times we felt frustrated at the lack of financial freedom, or uncertain about where the money would come from to pay those upcoming bills, we would sit together and join hands and pray a prayer of thanksgiving to God for giving us all we need, and a lot of stuff we don't. Remembering that my life was already full of God's favor and that we all had what we needed for that day helped me to refocus my heart and settle my soul.

Most of you who are reading this right now have plenty of food in your house. Many in our world, even in our neighborhood, do not. Most of us have a job, or at least some realiable source of income to look forward to. Many in our own city do not. Most of us have friends who love us, or a family who cares for us, or someone near to us who genuinely enjoys our company. Thousands in our nursing homes and homeless shelters and hospitals are all alone, forgotten and unknown.

The fire serves to remind us that we are human. We are fragile. Life is mutable. Things pass away. People, relationships and family are more important than houses or cars or personal belongings. Love is better than stuff.

The fire reminds us to help others. It awakens our sense of compassion for our fellow man. It causes us to whisper prayers for mercy. It brings out the best within us and burns away the selfishness and the pride and the empty pursuit of things…or at least, it should.

Jesus was always talking about something called "The Kingdom of God". He urged his followers to seek this first, above all other things. He wanted them to remember that our lives are not about what we wear, or what we eat, or where we live. He reminded us that God knows we need those things to live, and that God would take care of providing our needs if we would turn our attention primarily towards seeking after His Kingdom and and being made right with God in our hearts. (Matthew 6:30-35)

There is a lesson for us all in these fires. Remember what matters.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." - Jesus (Matthew 6:19-21)

Remember, you have everything you need, and a lot more that you don't.

Peace,
Keith
**
GET MY NEW BOOKS FOR FREE! Yes, I've finally published my two books, "The Gospel:For Here Or To Go?" and "Nobody Follows Jesus (So Why Should You?)" over at Lulu.com. You can purchase a paperback version of either book or you can download them both as a PDF file, totally free of charge. My main goal is to spread the ideas and thoughts contained in each of these books. I only make about $2 per book sold, so getting rich is not my goal here. If you want to purchase the book, I will be a very happy man, but don't feel bad about downloading the free PDF and then forwarding the link to all of your friends either.
Spread the subversive goodness.
http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=1073843
**
NOT THIS SUNDAY- I will NOT be speaking at Soul Survivor Church this weekend. That was last week. (See above). Of course, if you still want to join them over there, those guys are awesome and God is doing great stuff in their Church these days. Tell'em Keith sent ya.

**
GREAT COMMENTS: Over at http://www.theooze.com there are 17 comments (so far) on my article "Destroy the (Christian) Subculture!" Part two will run on November 11th (two days after my birthday). Several people have told me that they've forwarded the article on to their own e-newsletter lists and some of those have also forwarded it onward. Viva la revolucion!

**
UPDATE ON HARBOR MINISTRY TO PROSTITUTES- Go read an update on our recent trip to serve the girls on Harbor blvd. at http://www.keithgiles.com/

**
NON-CON CANCELLED?? - Not yet. But I am praying about whether or not I should throw the switch or let it ride. You can pray for me that God would speak clearly about this and that I really hear from Him about doing this thing or not. More details are also at http://www.keithgiles.com under "Weekend Update". Next week we'll either announce that it's cancelled or open online registration and go for it. Keep praying until then.

**
PODCAST SERMON: "LIVING THE MISSIONAL LIFE" - If you use ITunes you can search "Keith Giles" under podcasts and listen to my sermon last week over at Soul Survivor Church. It's more of a conversation than a sermon, really. I purposely tried to engage people in a dialog rather than deliver a prepared speech. I think it came out ok. If you listen to it let me know what you think.

**
[END TRANSMISSION]

Number 1- The Gospel Is Not About Going To Heaven When You Die

NOTE: This is the final article in a ten part series of monthly installments. Each month we've taken a look at one of the top 10 things that every true follower of Jesus should know but, I suspect, may not really know.
My plan, later next year, is to add supplemental material to each chapter and release this as a complete book under the same title.
I hope you've enjoyed reading these articles as much as I've enjoyed writing them. Maybe a second Top 10 list will show up starting next January? Hmm…

**
THE TOP 10 THINGS EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD KNOW (But Probably Doesn't)
By Keith Giles

Number 1- "The Gospel Is Not About Going To Heaven When You Die"

If you read the words of Jesus you'll quickly begin to notice that all he ever talks about is something called "The Kingdom of God." In fact, the only Gospel that Jesus ever talks about during his entire ministry on Earth was the Gospel of the Kingdom. There is no other Gospel.

Anyone who reads Matthew, Mark, Luke or John (the Gospels) will come away hearing all about The Gospel of the Kingdom from the mouth of Jesus. Jesus announced that the Kingdom of God was for here and now. This was the "Good News" in a nutshell- Anyone who wanted to enter God's Kingdom could do so on the spot. Jesus demonstrated what life in the Kingdom looked like. The Beattitudes are a picture of what life in the Kingdom looks like. Nearly every single parable of Jesus is designed to explain a particular facet of the Kingdom. His Sermon on the Mount declares the values of this Kingdom. His teachings are intended to show us how to live within the Kingdom, and His life was a blueprint for us to follow as we ourselves enter the Kingdom and learn from Him.

The only Gospel ever preached by Jesus is the message of The Kingdom of God. It was the new order where God's perfect will is always done in the lives of His followers. We do not need to wait until we die to enter God's Kingdom.

Many of us have been taught that the Gospel is about praying a prayer so that you can go to heaven when you die. This is false. Jesus never explained the Gospel in these terms. Instead, he talked about what it meant to follow him. He spoke about being a disciple. He described a way of life that was meant for today.

THE ATONEMENT
Most of us would define the Gospel as a spiritual transaction whereby we who are sinners receive a ticket to heaven when we die because of the death of Jesus upon the cross in our place. Yet, if we take this definition of the Gospel and apply it to the scriptures, we can easily see that this was not what Jesus or his disciples had in mind when they went around proclaiming the Gospel.

Even someone with a basic knowledge of the disciples can agree that whenever Jesus described his imminent arrest, torture and crucifixion to his closest friends and followers, their constant response to this was confusion, denial or flat out dismissal. If this were a central part of the Gospel as Jesus was proclaiming it to them, and as they themselves were proclaiming, it would seem logical that they would be able to grasp it. But this is clearly not the case.

Let's be very clear, the substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross is an essential element of our salvation and those who place their complete trust in Jesus are promised an enternity in God's presence because of this. This is part of the Gospel message, but it is not the entire message.

Part of the reason we've gotten so far off the track when it comes to an understanding of the Gospel of Jesus is because we've attempted to reduce the message into a quick bumper sticker slogan or a set of easy steps to salvation. Our efforts to market the Gospel have back-fired. Now there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of individuals in pews across the Nation who believe that they are Christians because they said a prayer once when they were nine years old and now they can go to heaven when they die, regardless of whether or not they intend to follow Jesus or surrender their lives to Christ.

Discipleship to Jesus, then, becomes optional, not essential. This is not what Jesus had in mind at all.

THE GOSPEL OF JESUS
When we look at passages where Jesus sends the disciples out into the surrounding area to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, it doesn’t make sense that what they were sharing with the community had anything to do with a guy who was going to die very soon for their sins and, once he did that, if they repeated a careful prayer, then they could go to heaven when they died.

Obviously, whatever it was that the disciples went out preaching, it wasn’t anything to do with a subject they exhibited zero understanding of or agreement with.

So, what was it that the disciples went out preaching? It was simply the Gospel of the Kingdom. The same message that we see Jesus publicly proclaiming over and over again in the Gospels.

Here are just a few examples from Scripture:

"I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent." (Luke 4:43)

"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15)

"Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness." (Matt 9:35)

"Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom.." (Matt 4:23)

LIFE IN THE KINGDOM
What we must keep in mind, as we begin to explore the concepts found in the Gospel of the Kingdom, is that this new system of life is God’s system. It is not one way of living, but in truth it is the way of living. Even as these new ways of thinking and living and being confound our minds and defy our logic and reason, we must constantly strive to remind ourselves that it is not God’s system that is unrealistic, but it is our own pattern of thinking and living that needs to be reformed and renewed. (see Romans 12)

Most of us read the words of Jesus and see a version of reality that seems surprisingly alien.
The words of Jesus from the sermon on the mount seem to be for another world and another place, not for the actual world you and I live in and deal with every single day. But this is because the World around us is "upside down" to the values of the Kingdom of God. In God's Kingdom the greatest is the servant of all, the first is the last, the weak are stronger, and those who lose their lives find their life.

When Jesus came to preach the Good News of the Kingdom, it was for today. It was intended for the here and now of life, not for some mystical afterlife beyond the grave.

What Jesus was proclaiming was that we could live today under the rule and reign of Almighty God. Instead of waiting to have this quality of life, Jesus was presenting an alternative system of living whereby we could reap the benefits of a God-Ruled Universe right now.

This is why so many people followed Jesus. This is why his message, his Gospel, was so compelling, and therefore so dangerous, to those who held spiritual power over the masses.

MY EPIPHANY
In my own spiritual journey, from a nine year old convert in a small Texas town, to a licensed and ordained minister of the Gospel pastoring others in their walk with Jesus, I have to confess that most of my progress has assumed the more popular Gospel of Salvation and not the actual Gospel that Jesus himself actually preached while he was here in the flesh.

It was only a few years ago, as I was doing my very first interview for a brand-new online column on American Spirituality called "Subversive" that I quite literally had my little spiritual paradigm re-arranged forever. I was interviewing a gentleman named Todd Hunter. Some of you may know him as the former National Director of the Association of Vineyard Churches, and perhaps others of you as the President of ALPHA Ministries here in the U.S. To me, he was someone I had heard preach at various times on Sunday mornings when our main pastor was out of town or sick. He was a practical and real-world teacher of the scriptures, and someone I respected in the arena of modern church development.

At one point in the interview, I asked him what, in his opinion, was the single biggest problem or challenge in American Christianity today. I suppose I expected him to cite apathy, or a lack of humility, or perhaps a lack of observable spiritual conviction among the Western Church. But what he said in response to this inquiry literally rocked my world and I have never been the same since.

Here is an excerpt from the interview with Todd Hunter that day.

"I think America is largely inoculated against the Gospel now, against what it believes the Gospel is all about," said Hunter. "I don’t believe the Gospel is about saying a prayer and then when you die you get to go to heaven. I think the true Gospel is about the in-breaking of the kingdom into your life today. The Gospel is not, ‘Jesus paid the price for my sins so I go to heaven when I die,’ or at least it’s not the Gospel that Jesus announced. The Gospel that Jesus announced is the good news of the present availability of the kingdom through Him. When we only think of Jesus as an atoning sacrifice, then His life and teaching and modeling just totally go out the window. Discipleship then becomes optional," Hunter argued. "But, if the Gospel is the good news that you can enter the kingdom and receive a different kind of life now, then you’ve got a basis for discipleship, or ‘follower-ship.’
(NOTE: You can read this entire interview by searching "Todd Hunter" over at www.keithgiles.com).

A NEW PARADIGM
It was this single concept, the Gospel of the Kingdom, that radically influenced the most significant spiritual re-education of my life in every area of my personal theology.
It's the whole reason I continue to write and blog and publish articles and (soon) books on the subject of discipleship to Jesus and the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Once you begin to understand the the Gospel is about living in the Kingdom of God here and now, everything else about the Christian life begins to fall into place. Scriptures begin to take on more robust and personal meaning. Humility becomese essential to your spiritual life. Jesus becomes your lifeline to this incredible way of living. Your entry into the Kingdom of God begins right now.

This is Good News. This is the Gospel of the Kingdom, and it's the only Gospel Jesus ever preached.
-kg
**
ARTICLE UPDATE:
*"CONSUMPTION, EXPRESSION, IDENTITY" sort of a Part 3 article to the discussion of the Christian Subculture and our tendency to find identity in the products we purchase.
Online now over at www.ginkworld.net

*DESTROY THE CHRISTIAN SUBCULTURE! -Part 1 : Online Friday, Oct 19th at www.theooze.com

NEW BLOG
*"NUT IN THE SHELL" is my new blogspace for talking about sci-fi, comics, and whatever else comes to mind. Drop by at http://nutintheshell.blogspot.com

THIS SUNDAY
I'll be preaching this Sunday at Soul Survivor Church in Costa Mesa, California on the subject of missional life. Come join us at 11am for worship and lively discussion about what it means to be a missionary in your actual life.
Come join us at:
Soul Survivor Church
1870 Harbor Blvd.
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
-Directly underneath the Edwards Cinema, on the corner of Harbor and 19th

**
[END TRANSMISSION]

*

PART 2- DESTROY THE (CHRISTIAN) SUBCULTURE!

NOTE: Part 1 of this series appeared on my [Subversive Underground] Newsletter last month and will also run online at TheOoze.com starting October 19th. This is a continuation of that first article based on a recent email exchange I had with someone who disagreed with my militant tone of voice and the concept that the Christian Subculture was evil.

** DESTROY THE (CHRISTIAN) SUBCULTURE - PART 2 By Keith Giles

I think, at the core, my argument is essentially that it's anti-Christian for there to be any sort of "subculture" at all. In itself, the current Christian subculture is a direct contradiction to the words of Jesus and the teachings of Paul in 1 Corinthians.

Jesus prayed: "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one."(John 17:15) It was never God's intention to take us out of the world we live in. Why have we decided that it's ok to take ourselves out of the world? Paul the Apostle also agreed on this point when he wrote, "I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world." (1 Cor 5:9-10)

Basically, I want to ask you to consider, "Why is there a Christian subculture at all?" What is the root of that? What is the fruit of that subculture? Does this subculture help us to love people as Jesus commanded? Is it helping or hindering the Kingdom? I would argue that the subculture only hurts the message of Christ. It creates an "Us vs Them" mentality which is something that Jesus was absolutely not in favor of. Jesus was radically inclusive, not exclusive.

I am not directing my dislike of the Christian Subculture towards my brothers and sisters in Christ. It's the "safe and comfortable world" we've created that I hate. I hate that false concept of retreating from the culture instead of living in the world God made and bringing the Gospel to people who need it. This is why I believe the subculture is evil, because it prevents you and I, God's chosen agents of change, from actually being in relationship and dialog and friendship with other human beings He loves and that Jesus died for.

Anything that amuses us as Christians and locks us into an illusion of safety and comfort, pacifies us with Christian-branded trinkets and prevents us, out of fear, from actually being in loving relationship with those outside the Church is evil.

We have Christians making inroads into all fields of endeavor right now. Look at Sophina Brown from the TV series Shark. Look at Dallas Willard, USC Dept. Chair of Psychology. Look at Astrophysicist Hugh Ross. Look at artists like Lynn Aldridge, or Tim Hawkinson. Look at U2. Look at Jay Bakker from Revolution. Look at films like "Bruce, Almighty" and music like "Jesus Walks" by Kanye West.

These are all great examples of artists I applaud because they have escaped the false reality of the Christian subculture and have made an impact outside of the man-made Christian bubble. If they stayed in the christian subculture they would have zero impact.

So, to simplify it:
Staying in the subculture = No impact.
Jesus Commands = Be Salt and Light.
Therefore: Anything that hinders us from being Salt & Light is bad.

My concern is that this so-called "Christian" subculture actually contradicts the message of Jesus.

Just for background, I used to work at a Christian bookstore (5 years), and I worked for six years in the Christian Music Industry. I know about the world I am critiquing. Again, it's not the people who are evil. It's the system we've created which generates money in the name of fear. We retreat from the world we were born into, and called to have an impact on, and we create our own Christian-version of the world which is sanitized and drained of power, impact, relevance and meaning.

It's because I love Jesus and I want to see His Kingdom advance that I have to condemn this subculture of christian consumerism and bumper sticker sloganeering. One local Christian University has emphasized engaging the culture by learning to speak their language. Since most of our cultural language derives from advertising, the result was tons of "Jesus Junk" as Christians tried to speak the cultural language. This again is the problem. We've made the Gospel something that can be reduced to a slogan or a bumper sticker--It's not.

I'm days away from publishing a book about how this commercialization of the Gospel has damaged real evangelism. We need to stop trying to "sell" Jesus to people. It doesn’t work and it's sick. The Gospel is not for sale, and we need to stop treating the message of Jesus as a cute, clever, or slick advertising slogan.

In my previous article I argued that there is no "Sacred" or "Secular" division in the actual world, only the artificial reality we have created in our little subculture. My friend responded to this assertion by quoting Matthew 7:6 and and saying, "Jesus Himself told us 'not to give dogs to give dogs what is sacred…' (therefore) He recognized that there is a sacred element to life."

I disagree. The text actually says, "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces." Let's be very clear: I don't argue that there is nothing "Holy" in my article, instead I argue against a man-made subculture that identifies certain styles of music, art, clothing, media, etc. as being "Holy" when only God is Holy. I believe that when we market the Gospel and Christianize beer ads, etc. we're breaking this command of Jesus in Matthew 7:6.

What Jesus is urging us to do in this passage is not to cheapen what is Holy. How does your Lord's Gymn t-shirt accomplish this? This passage could be paraphrased as: "Do not persist in offering what is Holy or of value to those who have no appreciation for it, because your gift will not only become contaminated and be despised, your generous efforts could also be rebuffed and perhaps even openly attacked." Welcome to the Christian Subculture.

My friend goes on to say "I can understand your frustration. There's no doubt that parts of the Christian cultural experience are outdated, and miss the mark. I realize this almost every Saturday when I sit in church and feel bored at the lyrics in the songs we sing."

Again, this entirely misses the point. The problem is not your lack of entertainment or stimulation. This is a symptom of the problem I am trying to point out in my article. We have become consumers of Christian subculture. We judge the worship service based on how well we were entertained. Worship is for God, not for us. There's no such thing as a "bad" worship service. You and I may not go home saying we enjoyed the sermon or that the band "rocked", but worship is for God's heart and His ears, not ours. We need to stop seeing things through the lens of consumption. This is why the subculture is evil. It has created consumers instead of worshippers.

Finally, my friend suggested that "(what) we need (is) a fresh breath of creativity that will spark real change. This is how art changes the world."

No, creativity is not enough. Art, the Gospel, our lives, can change the world when we start actually listening to the Holy Spirit and engaging the culture (the "real" culture) with our art, and our lives. If we only create art that is acceptable to a specific audience (the christian subculture) we will never impact the culture at large (those outside the church).

How can I create art that only speaks to and entertains Christians and expect that art to have any impact whatsoever on the World outside the Church? It can't. If it can, show me a few examples of such art. I can only see examples of art that offends the Christian Subculture having an impact on speaking Truth to the World at large; i.e.- "Piss Christ", "Kanye West's song 'Jesus Walks'", "Bruce, Almighty", "Signs", "U2", etc.

The dialog I had with this individual centered mostly on the idea of art and how artists of faith can have an impact on the culture. We talked at length about whether or not the Christian subculture was good or bad for the sake of art. Honestly, I believe that any artist's work would be liberated if it could be created outside of a subcultural context.

If we could see the world, those without Christ, as our audience, then we can begin to speak to them through our art. When you create art with a subculture in mind, which will only accept a narrow range of pre-determined content, (crosses, rainbows, doves, bunnies, etc.), you're not only limiting your art and your expression of Truth, you're preventing those outside the Church from joining the conversation.

So, if you only create art for the Christian subculture, we seasoned Christians may appreciate it and nod along to the inside jokes, but what impact does this have on the world we actually live in? I would argue it has no impact whatsoever.

If your desire is to create art for the select few who already "get it", then I guess you're art would be exactly on target. But, if you had the desire to impact the world around you with your art, it would have to take risks, it would have to offend the subculture if necessary, it would have to exist independantly of the subcultural audience.

My personal passion is to see artists of faith engage in an out of the box (out of the subculture) creative process that leans heavily on the Holy Spirit for inspiration and dares to destroy conventions that restrain the Truth.

The only reason I continue to write about this subject is because I believe artists of faith would be set free to accomplish amazing things for the Kingdom if they were less aware of the Christian subculture and more in tune with simply communicating Truth.

My militant approach in that first article was calculated and was designed to shake people up and force them to engage the issue. I am purposely militant in my language in order to communicate the urgency I feel and the importance of this topic.

Consider this: If Martin Luther had exercised grace, peace, patience and kindness with the Catholic Church of his day you and I would be paying indulgences to priests and there would be no Protestant Reformation. Sometimes we have to speak out strongly against things that are wrong.

To me, the retreat of God's people from the culture is wrong. I am speaking out against it. I am speaking out in order to encourage action.

Good art should also provoke us to action and point out areas where we need to change.

At least, that's my opinion.

[end of part 2]

-kg
**
COVER IMAGE -
Check out the awesome cover art for my first book, "The Gospel: For Here Or To Go?" by artist Scott Laumann right here: http://www.keithgiles.com/

[END TRANSMISSION]

BRING IT TO ME

NOTE: This is the 100th issue of [Subversive Underground]. I can't believe how this e-newsletter has grown. Watch for an exciting announcement in the next few weeks regarding a special offer only available to you, my faithful subscribers. Until then, on with this week's article…and thanks for reading. - kg


BRING IT TO ME
By Keith Giles

Last week I wrote about how overwhelmed I felt when considering my lack of resources available to adequately minister to prostitutes here in Orange County. While I see the need to reach out and express the compassion of Jesus to these young girls, I am paralyzed by my lack of real, substantial ability to provide counseling, shelter, or drug and alcohol treatment for them. I can see the incredible level of need here, but I am overcome by my own weakness.

Last Sunday at house church, God really spoke to me through several of our "Mission" family members regarding this. "Maybe all they need from us is a hug, or a few dollars for food? We can do that," said Liz. "It's really about being faithful in the mundane, everyday things that matters," said Leigh. "I think just being willing to step out and make ourselves available to God is what matters most," said Marlys.

One by one people around the circle began to encourage one another, and me, about how we simply need to obediently step forward and allow God to minister through us as necessary.

Slowly I started to see what God was doing. It was right in front of me all along, actually. As everyone continued to share I realized that this was exactly what God had been showing me for years now. Real ministry takes place outside our comfort zones. When we step out in our weakness we discover God's power because His power is made perfect in weakness. Slowly but surely I started to understand what God's heart was for me in this situation.

Last week, after I wrote the article about feeling overwhelmed by my lack of resources ("Mary's Prayer"), I attended an event in Torrance, California where the speaker shared a passage from Matthew chapter 14 and nailed me in my seat. The passage he read involved the feeding of the five thousand. When the Disciples saw the mulititudes were hungry they asked Jesus to send the people away. Jesus responded by asking them to feed the people, knowing full well that they did not have the resources necessary to do so. Next he asked the disciples to show him what they had, and although it wasn't nearly enough to feed five thousand hungry people, he instructed them to do one simple thing- "Bring it to me".

As I read that passage I could clearly see the parrallels to my own situation. I could see that there were girls trapped in a lifestyle of prostitution. I could see that my resources were impossibly weak. But Jesus was asking me to look at what I do have; Hands, feet, time, prayers, a smile, a few dollars, and a willing heart. He's asking me to give these meager resources to Him.

"Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds." - Matthew 14:19

Jesus took what little the disciples gave to him and he blessed it. He broke it, and he gave it back to the disciples so that they could feed the people.

For me this means we need to take the first simple, basic step of going out to the streets where these girls are and finding ways to simply bless them and pray for them and demonstrate the love and compassion of Jesus to them. If we give it to Jesus, he will bless it and give it back to us so that we can provide what these girls really hunger for inside.

As our group continued to talk about this last Sunday, and as we prayed together about taking these first tentative steps toward serving these girls, I realized that all God was calling me to do was to go out there and be an ambassador of Christ to these girls.

What upset me early on in my discovery of this mission field was the total lack of Christian presence in this dark place. "Wouldn't Jesus be out here with these girls?" I asked. Yes, he would. And if we go out there and make ourselves available to them, as the hands and feet, and face and smile of Jesus, at least there will be a representative of The Body of Christ in that place. At least then no one could look at this mission field and lament the lack of servants willing to stand in the darkness and hold up their small flame of faith.

So, we will go out. We will take those first small steps of faith. We will at least give to Jesus what little we have, and admittedly it is very little, and we will wait to see what he does with it. We may not see a large number of conversions from this. We may not ever see a single girl turn from this lifestyle and escape this darkness. But the simple act of obedience to go and to serve and to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth is reward enough.
-kg

**
MORE ARTICLES BY KEITH GILES:
*"Judge Not" at TheOoze.com
http://www.theooze.com/
*"Better Than Me" at Ginkworld.net
http://www.ginkworld.net/

**
CHRISTIANITY'S IMAGE PROBLEM (Time Magazine Feature):
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1667639,00.html?xid=rss-nation

(From the article)
"Kinnaman says non-Christians' biggest complaints about the faith are not immediately theological: Jesus and the Bible get relatively good marks. Rather, he sees resentment as focused on perceived Christian attitudes. Nine out of ten outsiders found Christians too "anti-homosexual," and nearly as many perceived it as "hypocritical" and "judgmental." Seventy-five percent found it "too involved in politics."
(More in link above)

**
House Church Resource Online:
http://www.housechurchresource.org/

This web site is a service to the explosive house church/organic church movement throughout the world. Today, over 112 million Christians worldwide do not attend a traditional church. Every year, one million Christians leave the institutional church in the United States. Presently, the number of adult Christians meeting in house church/organic churches in the USA is five million. This number is growing by the day. That is where this site comes in.

**
DO SOMETHINGhttp://www.just4one.org/My friend Greg Russinger is one of the co-founders of this new non-profit dedicated to fighting poverty, exposing human trafficking and assisting orphans around the globe.Don't just sit there. Get involved now.You CAN make a difference!

**
[END TRANSMISSION]

MARY'S PRAYER

NOTE: This is the 99th [Subversive Underground] article. I need to think of something awesome to do for our next one, I guess.
kg

**

Mary's Prayer by Keith Giles

"I've started to notice that there are a lot of prostitutes walking up and down Harbor boulevard," she said. "It would be great if we could find a way to help them escape that lifestyle," Kristin said.

At first I didn't know what to say. There were fifteen college students in our little circle and all of them were silently looking at Kristin, internally processing her words and slowly coming to terms with the magnitude of her suggestion.

Then everyone's eyes turned to me. I was leading a brand-new compassion ministry group in this small church for twenty-somethings. As part of our first meeting I had opened things up by asking those around me what needs they saw as they went through their day. My philosophy for compassion ministry has always been to start with what you see, and then responding with what you have. So, I threw out the question to this fledgling group of college students, "What needs do you see in this community?" That's when Kristin's response stopped the show.

Prostitutes? I had no idea what to do when it came to reaching out to prostitutes. All of my previous experience with serving those in need revolved around children, families living in motels, visiting senior homes and passing out free groceries to low income residents of a local apartment complex. Nothing in my experience had ever come close to ministering to prostitutes. Nothing.

As soon as I caught my breath I acknowledged Kristin's observation. I knew that since she was the one who had really seen these girls and been touched with compassion that it was probably Kristin who would drive the vision for this ministry. Almost immediately three other girls in our circle voiced a desire to serve these girls on Harbor boulevard. Before the meeting was over we had a team of four girls and three guys, one of whom was myself.

I encouraged everyone to be in prayer about this new ministry and I promised to do some research on the issue in the meantime. Surely, I supposed, there must already be some church or non-profit organization responding to the needs of these girls on the streets in Anaheim. I was wrong.

At first I called my friends at the local rescue mission, and then started researching materials on the statistics concerning prostitution here in Orange County, California. What I found was disheartening.

First of all, there was not one single church or ministry with an ongoing ministry to these girls. Not one. The best we could find was one small church where the pastor, a former police officer, randomly took a few people from his church out to pray for the girls. His expertise was invaluable, although we found his methods to be nothing more than "drive-by evangelism". It made everyone from his church feel good, but the girls themselves remained untouched and indifferent to the anonymous prayers of the saints.

I ended up doing a lot of research on my own and what I discovered was frightening.
Most girls who enter this lifestyle never leave it alive. If they don't leave this life of prostitution in the first six months, most of them won't try to leave until they've been in it so long that their lives are completely destroyed. The most successful programs boasted an 8% success rate, and this only after years of back-and-forth returns to the lifestyle, and to drugs. Most who tried working with these girls quickly discovered that removing a girl from this lifestyle can be nearly impossible, even when the girl wants to quit. Usually their pimps keep them hooked on heroin or other highly-addictive drugs to maintain control. Some of the pimps will even profess love for the girl and string her along for years with promises of "just one more month" before the wedding or the fairy-tale escape to the good life that never comes.

The most difficult situation to navigate involves the Russian Mafia. There are hundreds of girls in Southern California, and around the United States, who are brought here against their will, or under false promises of fame as a model or an actress, only to be forced into a life of prostitution. These girls are usually told that their families will be put to death if they try to escape, so even if they wanted to leave, and most of them desperately do want to escape this life, they are compelled to continue in slavery to their captors.

I don't know about you, but going up against the Russian Mafia, or some other Human Trafficking ring, isn't my idea of a service project. It's more like a terrifying adventure into a world that I should have better sense to avoid, especially as a husband and a father of two elementary-age boys.

So our little group of volunteers eventually took to the streets of Anaheim on a mission to meet some of these girls and build relationships with them, in hopes that one or two of them might be ready to leave their world of pain.

We prayed for a few girls, but most of them didn't want to give us more than thirty seconds of their time. I came home feeling like I had fired BB's at a Nuclear Submarine, and was less effective. We hadn't even scratched the paint on this one.

After a few feeble attempts like this one we eventually gave up the ministry, and I stepped away from that church in order to pursue a more stable employment and to lead our house church.

Last Sunday God re-opened this box. One of our newest families at "The Mission" wanted to know if I would be interested in leading a team out to serve the prostitutes we see out on Harbor. What could I say?

Isn't this exactly where Jesus, our Lord, would be if He were walking the streets of Orange County today? I know it is, and yet I feel so insignificant when it comes to serving these girls and helping them get off the streets and out of this lifestyle. I am only one person. I have a family I can barely provide for each month. I am pastoring a small house church and trying to love and serve the families on our street as an incarnational missionary. For over four years now I have been serving a local motel where families live in poverty. There are several individuals and families that I am committed to serving and helping and loving into the Kingdom of God already. How could I possibly add a ministry to prostitutes to my schedule?

This is not a part-time, weekend ministry. This ministry could easily consume my life and monopolize every hour of my day. I almost feel like the only way to really offer any lasting assistance to these girls would be to start a non-profit ministry aimed specifically at meeting their needs for counseling, shelter, job-assistance, day care services, drug and alcohol dependency, and self-esteem. I am not ready to start a non-profit ministry out of my house.

At the same time, I constantly feel a tension between being a writer who spurs others on to action and being a practitioner of compassion and justice myself. I never want to be someone who writes about issues but never gets involved. Maybe that's why this issue concerns me so much. I know that God's people should be doing something to help these girls. I am ashamed to realize that no one is doing anything to help these girls escape this lifestyle. How can I be disgusted at the lack of compassion in others when I have actually seen these girls, and prayed for some of them, and yet I have also done little to model the love of Jesus to them.

For now I continue to pray and ask the Lord to show me what He is calling me to do about this. Our house church group is praying now about how to step back into this ministry. We have a few ideas, but I want to make sure the Holy Spirit is really leading us.

Incidentally, if I were to start a non-profit ministry to prostitutes, and I'm not saying I ever would, but if I did...I'd call it "Mary's Prayer".


kg
**


**
JUST GORGEOUS:
"Book Autopsies"
http://centripetalnotion.com/2007/09/13/13:26:26/

**
PREACH IT- I'll be preaching at Soul Survivor Church on Oct. 21st at 11am in Costa Mesa.
Come join us at:
Soul Survivor Church
1870 Harbor Blvd.
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
*Directly underneath the Edwards Cinema, on the corner of Harbor and 19th

**
MISSION HOUSE CHURCH UPDATE:
If you're curious about what's new with "The Mission" we've got some photos from our most recent Motel Ministry and more at
http://www.MissionHouseChurch.com

**
[END TRANSMISSION]

BELIEF IS NOT ENOUGH

THE TOP 10 THINGS EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD KNOW
(But Probably Doesn't)

*NOTE: This series is nearly complete. Every month we've been looking at one of the Top 10 things every Christian should know. This month we look at number 2 on our list, "Belief Is Not Enough (Or It's Not What You Think It Is)".

Part 10 through 3 are here:
http://subunderground.blogspot.com/search?q=%22TOP+10+THINGS%22


PART 2 - "Belief Is Not Enough (Or It's Not What You Think It Is)"
by Keith Giles

"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)

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, or that he is real. Obviously Nicodemus believed Jesus was real and alive because they were having an active conversation together. So, to "believe" in Jesus is more than having mental knowledge of him, or an acceptance of a series of facts about Jesus as being true.

What does Jesus intend to teach here? I think it all hangs on how you understand his use of the word "Believe". 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.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BELIEVE?
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 and then living any way you please.

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 Biblical belief can be expressed in the statement "Show me what you do, how you behave, and that is what you really believe".

WHAT DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE?
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 listens to his friend complain about his life and then challenges him to prove 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.

IS DOCTRINE IRRELEVANT?
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. In other words, if a group of people only believe that murder is wrong, but they don’t practice this belief, you’ll always have the occasional dead body to deal with. Practice matters.

The things we believe, really believe, will affect the way we live our lives. If we honestly believe that Jesus is God, then we will put His words into practice. If we say we do, but we live in a way that is contrary to His clear teaching, then perhaps we really don't believe in Jesus after all?

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?

"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)

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.

In the early church, the Christian faith was defined more by practice, not by doctrine. Doctrine is necessary to outline the scope of the belief system, but without anyone actually practicing those beliefs, it's all quite useless and empty.

Islam, Judaism and the early Christians were all defined by what they did (practiced) more than their specific doctrines (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 something contained in a list of beliefs.

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 what you 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.

GRACE AND WORKS
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. It is not our actions that save us, but our actions are evidence that we have been saved. 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 http://www.keithgiles.com/ . I recommend you download all of these and listen to them).

My summation of this goes, "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.

THE PROBLEM
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 actual everyday life to Christ. 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 opposition to the commands 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 intense 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. It's not about knowing stuff, it's about knowing Him as a friend.

Knowing stuff about Jesus is not the same as knowing Jesus. For example, 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?

According to Scripture, the earliest disciples of Jesus were of the opinion that following Him was all about practice, putting your faith where your life is, not saying one thing and then doing another.

Trusting in Jesus, believing in Him, is about obedience to His commands, submission to His will, and an ongoing relationship with Him. Biblical belief is not about cerebral acknowledgement of a set of doctrines, it's about putting into practice with your life what you have come to believe in your heart and mind.

So, the Christian life is about belief, and it's also about how we practice what we believe. This is where the real Christian life begins.

"Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do." – James 2:18

Peas,
kg
**
ILLEGAL TO FEED THE HOMELESS?
Hard to believe, but the city of Orlando, Florida has made it illegal to feed the homeless or to give money to panhandlers after dark. Go read more here:
http://www.keithgiles.com/

We need to share this info with everyone. Soon this kind of legislation will come to your city. We need to speak up now.

**
WHAT IF?
My article, "What If Jesus Could Be You For 24 Hours" is up now at
http://www.theooze.com/

**
NEW PAGES AT NON-CON WEBSITE:
I've updated the Non-Con.com site with groovy maps to the event, hotel info, workshop titles, and a schedule of events. Go check it out now:
http://www.non-con.com/
*Online Registration Opens Soon!

**
[END TRANSMISSION]

NOT A CHRISTIAN ANYMORE

NOT A CHRISTIAN ANYMORE
By Keith Giles

"I don't call myself a Christian anymore," John said. The passengers in the car with him all turned their heads and blinked. "What do you mean," the driver asked, "You mean you're not a Christian?"

John turned to the driver and shook his head. "No, I mean if a Christian is someone that claims they are following Christ, but is ok with living a worldly lifestyle, or is someone who has no concern for the needy and the poor, then that's not a person I want to be associated with. When people hear the word 'Christian', what they think of is the televangelist conning old women out of their social security money, or some guy in a three-piece suit telling people that God wants to make them rich. That's not what a Christian is to me," he said.

John had spent the weekend with these three other gentlemen on a fishing trip to the mountains. None of them were very close friends, but they shared a common love of fishing, and a faith in Christ. At least that's what they had all assumed at the beginning of their trip.

"You can't do that," the driver said.

John looked over at the man. "Do what?"

"You can't just decide to stop calling yourself a Christian because you don't want to be associated with a certain group of people," the driver said.

John smiled and said, "Why not? I mean, on the other hand I don't think any of us measure up to what a real, Biblical Christian looks like. When I read the book of Acts and I see their radical compassion for the poor and their willingness to sell property and possessions to share with anyone in need, I'm blown away because I'm not even close to having that kind of faith in God," he said. "What right do I have, do any of us have, to compare ourselves to people like that who had faith to give up everything to follow Jesus?"

As the discussion raged on, one of the four men sat quietly in the back seat and stared out the window. He was not much of a talker by nature, as the rest of them had already discovered early on in their weekend together. After the storm of dialog had quieted down he cleared his throat and said, "I'm like you, John. I call myself a Christian too, but I'm not a loving person. I don't love my wife the way I should," he said.

The other men in the car looked at one another, and then looked away in the silence of the car. John felt his eyes filling with tears for this man in the backseat. He knew that it was a very brave thing to admit, especially to a car full of acquaintances, but because of John's willingness to confess his weakness, this gentleman had found the courage to admit his own tendency to fall short of the Glory of God.

As John relayed this story to me, I was touched and challenged by what had transpired in that car. First, I was very proud of my friend for having the courage to say those sorts of things and provoke that sort of conversation. We could all use a bit more raw honesty in our lives, and this is the sort of thing I believe James had in mind when he said, "Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed." (James 5:16)

Secondly, I was inspired by the wisdom of John's statement concerning our identity as followers of Jesus. I whole-heartedly agree with him on both counts. The idea of someone equating what I believe and practice in my faith with what transpires on 99% of Christian Television makes me sick to my stomach. The last thing I'd want is for someone to hear that I'm a Christian and assume that I’m in favor of what these self-proclaimed spokespeople for Jesus spew out over the airwaves daily. At the same time, when the Bible describes the character of those earliest Christians, I am humbled by their radical compassion and somewhat ashamed to compare my life to theirs.

What if we all stopped identifying ourselves as Christians? What would we say the next time a co-worker asks us about our faith? How would we describe what we believe to a stranger at a party or that person next to us on the airplane?

Here's what I think I'll say from now on; "I have been fascinated lately with the person of Jesus. So, I've been reading books about his teachings, especially the Gospels, and doing my best to follow his wisdom in every area of my life."

It seriously excites me now to think about my next encounter of this sort. Imagine the honest conversation you can have with someone by simply identifying yourself as someone who is fascinated with Jesus. Personally, I can't wait to introduce myself as someone who is curious about the teachings of Jesus and who is learning how to put his words into practice. I think this is a far more compelling response to someone who inquires about our faith. Much more so than simply saying, "I am a Christian" which instantly polarizes everyone, shuts down any hope of conversation and creates an "Us vs Them" environment.

From this day forward, if anyone asks me about my faith, I want it to be known that I am not a Christian, at least not in the sense that it has come to be understood. Today, I am a follower of Jesus. I am someone who is fascinated with the person and teaching of Jesus and I am doing my best to put His words into practice.

I am not a Christian. I am a follower of Jesus. The saddest truth is that those two things aren't necessarily the same.

Peace,
Keith
http://www.keithgiles.com
**
SERIOUSLY AWESEOME – You need to go to this website now. You need to bookmark it and go there often. It is classic. It is solid gold.
http://www.holyobserver.com/

**
WHILE YOU WAIT- I've decided to release a collection of my earliest RelevantMagazine.com articles into one single book. It’s called "Nobody Follows Jesus (So Why Should You?)" and it will be available as a .PDF download and as a paperback book in just a few weeks time. Watch this space for the release date. (And go on over to my main blog if you want a peek at the cover of the book – www.keithgiles.com)

**
ALMOST READY- My book, "The Gospel: For Here Or To Go?" is still being released through Lulu Publishing later this year. Just hang on tight and this book will also be available online for purchase. Keep your eyes peeled.

**
RU REVOLUTIONARY? – Part 1 of my interview with USC Professor Scott Bartchy is online now at http://www.rurevolutionary.com/
Part 2 will be up later this week, I think.

**
SPEAK UP- I've been invited to preach next month at Soul Survivor Church in Costa Mesa, California on Sunday, Oct 21st. They're back to meeting at Triangle Square and they're now meeting at 11:30am. Mark your calendars and join us for the morning if you can.

Soul Survivor Church
1870 Harbor Blvd.
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
*Directly underneath the Edwards Cinema, on the corner of Harbor and 19th

**
NEXT WEEK- Keep me in your prayers next Thursday evening as I communicate the plight of the poor in Orange County to the "REACH" staff at Rock Harbor Church. Mike Kenyon, my friend and one of my biggest heroes in the faith, has invited me to share. God is doing great stuff with this church and I’m honored to spur them on as they serve the poor in Orange County.

**
[END TRANSMISSION]