Stop the Celebration!

Normally I leave political issues alone, especially in forums such as this. However, I feel compelled to address the big news of the past couple of days. This is just an opinion of someone who looks at the world through the lens of the bible.

Usama Bin Laden is dead, killed by brave Americans who carried out a mission to eliminate Bin Laden. My hat goes off to those who serve and protect our great land. However, celebrating the death of anyone is taking it too far in my opinion. Here is my post on Facebook hours after the reports became public; “How do we celebrate as Christ Followers, the death of any human being, especially one that now finds himself in a Christless eternity? The bible tells us we all "deserve" death and eternity without Christ. But because of what we celebrated last Sunday, we enjoy the pure grace of God as He rescued us from an eternity of death and torment. I find no solace in the death of anyone, especially the tortured souls of deranged terrorists. Christ died for all human beings, even the Usama Bin Ladens of this world. Did he deserve death, did he receive his justice, only God knows the answer. I applaud the efforts of those who protect and serve our great country and I'm sure the world is a far better place without the hatred and terror men like Bin Laden perpetrate on others. But, to celebrate his death is simply taking it too far!”

Our great nation was founded by men and women who understood freedom and desired for all to have the basic human rights God intended for us. These freedoms have come under attack. I believe we need to defend ours and others’ freedoms and I have nothing but respect for our men and women fighting to protect us. But we descend to the depths of the terrorists when we celebrate in the streets the death of anyone. I am reminded of the parades and celebrations that occurred all across the Middle East on September 11, 2001. I pray our nation remembers the value of human life and the reason Christ died for men… even like Sadaam Hussein and Usama Bin Laden. I pray the USA remains a God-Blessed nation!

Be Blessed

As the New Year unfolds, I take some time each year to reflect on the past and look to the future with excitement and optimism. This year as I plan and prepare for what God has for us here in Haysville, Kansas I am especially fired up to be given the opportunity to teach the pure gospel of Jesus Christ. As a product of the 60's and 70's Jesus Revolution, I witnessed a movement of the Holy Spirit that saw literally thousands of young people drawn to Christ. I believe there is a new wind blowing very similar to the winds of revival that blew in the Jesus Movement. Beginning January 9th and continuing through the next 6 weeks I will be sharing a sermon series entitled "Why Jesus Crossed the Road' (inspired by the book of the same name, written by Bruce Main). Jesus' travels and encounters with people gives us tremendous insight into his heart for people and his desire to cross the many barriers we must overcome in our world today if we are going to be New Testament messengers of God's righteousness!

Blessings on the New Year!

http://www.5min.com/Video/The-Churches-Role-In-Helping-the-Poor-303384006

In simple words the recent comments by Kay Warren have sparked some good discussion. However I don't understand what the debate is about. Mrs. Warren states that what we believe shapes our worldview, end of story. That statement is true of Christians and non-Christians alike. But I'm convinced that it is the heart Jesus is most concerned and not the external behavior. We humans tend to focus on the externals, and they are important, but we forget the internal, heart issues.

Jesus had similar things to say... "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God!" The word heart here is Karthos in the Greek. "Karthos" in Jesus’ context it means, "unmixed" or "undivided," without pollution in reference to a man’s relationship to God.

For Jesus, the heart was the totality of our person, the cockpit, the control tower, the seat of character, the origin of affections, perceptions, intentions, purpose, will and faith. Do you see what Jesus was trying to get across by using these two words together?
From the Jewish point of view of purity, a man might have within his heart arrogance, malice, pride, thoughts of lust or bitterness.. but.. as long as he observed the outward rituals correctly, he was pure. From Jesus’ point of view, even if a man’s outward actions were impeccably correct, even if he observed every detail of the ceremonial law with meticulous devotion, he might still be utterly impure.

Because the thoughts and motives of his inner self were not right. That’s why He said to the hypocritical religious leaders of his day, "You are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity!"(Mt. 23:27 NLT) Now, we might say, "How dumb to think they could be right with God by external observances when internally they were impure." Really? Don’t we do the same today? Is it not still possible for a person to consider themselves "religious," right with God, because they are doing all the correct things, going to Church, giving, being respectable, fighting abortion and homosexuals, all the while in the eyes of Jesus the person has no relationship at all with Him, because the inner recesses of their heart is not pure. This I believe is Kay's point.

The combination of Jesus’ words.. pure heart.. is clear. He is saying, "Happy many times over is the person who has undivided affections for God." He said that again & again.. "No man can serve two masters.." "Seek first the kingdom of God.." "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things I say?"

The key word here for this beatitude is integrity. Jesus is telling us a big piece of the puzzle for happiness is not what you do but who you are, not external action but internal attitudes. Happiness comes when you are the same on the inside as you are on the outside. In order to have the happiness that God promises Jesus says you need... a "karthos kardia," a pure heart.

Finally, all the good works, all the good intentions Jesus himself said is not what he is most concerned with, it is the condition and attitude of the heart that matters, and when the heart is right and pure (not behavioral) but positionally in a right relationship with God, then our actions will reflect that attitude. It is certainly important to feed the poor and heal the sick, but Jesus said those things will not get a person's heart right. Only repentance and a turn in direction and a devotion to God puts our heart right and it is only because of what Jesus did for us on the cross by paying our sin debt that we could never pay.

Our world-view is absolutely conjoined with our understanding of scripture and whether or not we believe that it is the Word of God or not. If it is, then our friends who are agnostics or atheists will be of great concern to us as we show them Jesus and live our lives as people who look forward to eternity with Him. My greatest concern in life is that my friends and parishioners understand their eternity in light of the scripture, that is the business Jesus said we are to be about. I fear however, that we in the church have been so concerned with people's behavior on the outside that we forget their spiritual condition. We like all the good works of those in and out of the church, but we neglect to share the greatest news that ever came into the world, Jesus Christ!

Recently my wife and I walked through a local park during a festival, we found ourselves among the many "craft" booths where people display and sell various works of art and crafts. It is a great place to meet people and see the wares of local artists. Among these booths we happened by a booth that strangely did not seek to sell anything, except a hard core sales job of the impending doom of all who fail to pray a prayer of salvation and fail to heed their warnings. While the fabric of what they were saying was true, it was the way in which they were "hawking" their product that caused me great concern. As we proceeded by the booth, I leaned over to my son and said, "these are the guys that I have to constantly apologize in their behalf, because as a pastor, I'm linked with this type of harassment." Today we need to be more concerned about developing relationships with people, earning the right to share the Truth with them. This type of in your face evangelism serves to belittle the Gospel and reduce it to a fringe group's belief system. I believe the Gospel of Christ is important and needs to be shared, but it is the way we share it that makes a difference.

In his book "They Like Jesus, But Not the Church" Dan Kimball summarizes his work with this:

"We will be passionate about our mission to break out of the Christian bubble. I truly believe that many people will change their minds about the church if they meet Christians who break the stereotypes and care about them. People will give the church a chance if we ask them to forgive us."

Here is a quote from Henri Nouwen (also found in Kimball's book): "When we have been wounded by the church, our temptation is to reject it. But when we reject the church, it becomes very hard for us to keep in touch with the Living Christ. When we say, 'I love Jesus but not the church,' we end up losing not only the church, but Jesus too. The challenge is to forgive the church.

This challenge is especially great because the Church seldom asks us for forgiveness, at least not officially. But the Church as an often fallible human organization needs our forgiveness, while the Church as the living Christ among us continues to offer us forgiveness.

It is important to think about the Church as not as 'over there' but as a community of struggling, weak people of whom we are a part and in whom we meet our Lord and Redeemer."

I believe people who have rejected the Church or have left the Church because of some hurtful event need to understand the Church is the Bride of Christ. It is a community of human beings, fallible and prone to making mistakes, but nevertheless, the Bride of Christ. The Bride simply needs to ask forgiveness for misrepresenting the Groom!

Despite all its weaknesses, the Church is still the Bride of Christ whom he loves and was willing to die for, knowing all it's flaws.

The Church has lost its attractiveness, it has lost its compelling message, it has lost its ability to build relationships with those outside the Church. My life's work is to change this perception in my little realm of influence by building relationships with those hurt and alienated by the Church. Only when we begin to treat people of differing points of view with dignity and love will we ever be able to share the awesome news that Jesus loves them and wants a dynamic relationship with them.

September 14th I attended a conference in Kansas City called "Turning the Church Inside-Out" with Reggie McNeal. I have to say I believe it was the best conference I've attended in a very long time. Not only did I get to share this experience with a good friend and brother from the church where I am Lead Pastor, but was able to let Reggie's message go deeper into my soul. I've read Reggie McNeal's books, I've heard him speak before, but never have I been able to focus and absorb the message that we must re-learn in order to be the church God created us to be. Looking at ministry through the lens of God's mission instead of the church's agenda is truly something I was not prepared. I will never be the same or be able to "settle" for the church ordinary again. I would highly encourage you to go to: http://missionalchurchnetwork.com/reggie-mcneal-videos/. Take the time to listen to this important message to the church. All we do must be done with an eye on those we are called to bless. Discipleship, corporate worship, bible studies, small groups must be viewed as something other than the final destination. We are called to bless others, therefore everything we do must be done with others in mind. We are called to feed the poor, care for the homeless and reach out to those we find ourselves each day coming into contact. The world is waiting for the church to be the church. As Reggie so aptly says, its not "my" "a" or "their" church it is "the" church! Wherever we go the church is in the house! Be the church where you are this day!

Facebook has given me a connection to people from the churches we have served, to old high school classmates, to family and everyone in between. When I first started using Facebook a couple years ago, the upside was apparent. Connection, networking and just keeping up with our kids made the possibilities endless. However just like the human condition, something created for good, has turned or is turning dark. Sites displaying and exploiting women (soft core), people dropping "F" bombs make Facebook dangerously close to going the way of My Space. I thought about it and decided that whatever men create no matter the pure intent, others will compromise and seek to destroy, which by the way is the age old way of the enemy of God.

I am monitoring Facebook. I have used it to spread encouragement and the Word of God, but, when it becomes a place for people to spread viruses, to "trick" people into attaching themselves to sites they do not want to be associated with, then it is time to look elsewhere. The technology of our day is mind boggling, but we have to use it responsibly. Therein lies the issue, what is responsible for me is far different than someone else's definition of responsibility. that is why the Word of God has to be our guide, our moral compass and our True North!

I'm so thankful for God's Word and the Holy Spirit who brings it to life.

Jay

Don't Wait!

Whatever the dreams God places in your heart or whatever He desires to do through you, begin it now! Boldness has genius, power, and fruit in it. I have found that when I wait for the perfect moment, procrastinate because I'm tired or ignore an opportunity to serve, the moment leaves and never seems to return. A good friend of mine years ago shared that he had the opportunity to share with someone the awesome story of Jesus Christ. He had the opportunity present itself, but because he had something urgent (or seemingly so) on his mind, he ignored the opportunity. A few minutes later after he had driven on he realized what had happened. He turned around to go back the the intersection where he had seen the person and you guessed it, they were not there. I don't know what happened to them or where life has taken them, but I do know that my friend missed an opportunity of blessing by ignoring the Holy Spirit's leading. I will never forget that day as he told me the story and wept as he shared it with me.

I have as a result of his story, made it my personal practice to, no matter how busy I am or what my schedule dictates, I will respond immediately when the Holy Spirit prompts me to action. So remember...

Whatever the dreams God places in your heart or whatever He desires to do through you, begin it now! Boldness has genius, power, and fruit in it.