Growing as a Christian

I don’t think I have ever asked a Christian the question, “Do you want to grow in your faith?” and received back a negative response. Sure, affirmation of the desire to grow is more convincing in some than in others, but every follower of Jesus Christ wants improvement in their walk. The places they want to grow and the motivation for change can run the gamut of possibilities. Some are significant changes and others less so, at least from the perspective of the person not struggling in that area. But if there’s a persistent issue or pattern in your life that you want to alter or eliminate, a mole hill can seem like a mountain. (This is a good place to resist the clichéd Christian retort, “Faith as small as a mustard seed will cast mountains into the sea!” Well, in 12 years of ministry, I have yet to see that splashdown.)

So, where do you want to grow? Or rather, where do you need to grow? Maybe you need to better understand God’s Word and how it directly relates to your life. A popular New Year’s resolution is to commit to reading through the Bible in a year. Two comments on that discipline: 1) Consuming large chunks of Scripture is vitally important to understanding the entire God Story. If you find this practice difficult because you want to slow down and savor every morsel, then you should seriously consider the Big Bite Commitment. And, 2) Expect to get bogged down in Leviticus and 1 Chronicles, even in some of the more repetitive prophets. If this is the case, start by committing to follow through regardless of how you feel. And something that works for some people is to use an audio Bible. I recommend listening while tracking in your study Bible, highlighting and marking anything that you find “meaningful” in the moment. If you come across something that generates more questions than answers, jot it down on a notepad and talk it over with someone when you have a chance.

Now, you knew there was going to be a plug in here somewhere for community. Here it is. (I hate to disappoint!) Bible reading is seen as a personal, private discipline. But that was not the context of all of the biblical admonitions to consume God’s Word. In fact, personal ownership of Bibles didn’t begin to come into play until the invention of the printing press in the 15th century. Here are some things that you get when you think of Bible reading as a corporate discipline:

You have other people with whom to discuss the meaning of the passage. Face it, there are some passages of Scripture that are downright confusing. Still others we think we understand, but we are disconnected from the author’s cultural context so we end up with a wrong interpretation. When it comes to understanding Scripture, generally speaking you are better off with more minds applied to the task.

You can hold one another accountable as you corporately commit to reading at the same place. Listen, you don’t have to be in the same room to read “together.” There’s a group I know that’s taking the month of January and reading through Matthew one chapter each day. But they are doing this privately. Then, they email and text one another about their understanding and reflections on each day’s reading. It’s a great way to keep daily “touches” within your group while also encouraging one another concerning the commitment to read and the value of meditation upon God’s Word.

And corporate commitment to the reading/study of God’s Word is significantly more likely to produce transformed perspective and behaviors in your life. Groups tend to reflect at a much deeper level and then hold one another accountable for following through on application of God’s precepts.

So, how are you doing with spending time in God’s Word, allowing it to penetrate deep into your heart, transforming your perspective and your behaviors? I’ll confess that I let my spiritual disciplines get out of control during the holiday season. It took getting back to devotions in a serious way to quiet my soul. The good news is that I started sleeping better and have much less back pain. The better news is that I’m seeing things in a more positive way than I did before. Same circumstances. Better constitution. Dare I say it? Even peace.

2011 Resolutions

So, it's 2011. And every New Year brings an opportunity for reflection and recommitment to a new life, a "preferred" life. I find it a little humorous that we are willing to put up with unacceptable circumstances or behaviors in our life until the calendar changes. But that's another post...

I have run into quite a few folks who are very frustrated with their inability to overcome specific areas of sin in their life. Maybe they struggle with anger or legalism, pornography or jealousy, the list is long and infamous. Almost every time, the statement comes in a form similar to, "I hate this about my life and I have tried everything. I can stay sin-free for (insert some time period), but then I slide back into my old ways. Why can't I live without this burden?"

And therein resides the problem. We are not talking about a change in behaviors so much as we need a change in our thinking. We think that the Greek word, metanoia, which we translate "repent" means to change our activities. What it really means is to change our mind or our thinking. We have bought into a series of lies about God and ourselves and our social obligations that have replaced what God would have us understand, and these wrong thoughts form the foundation of our behaviors. Frankly, if we want to change our behaviors, we first need to purge our minds of these wrong ideas.

Once you have addressed those lies and replaced them with God's truth, you need two more things to create real change in your life. The good news is that only one of them is your responsibility. You need to discipline your "flesh" as Paul puts it. Sarx, translated "flesh," in this sense is not so much about the meat on your bones, but your tendency to rebel against God and His Kingdom. So you need spiritual disciplines to help you tame those desires and redirect your heart toward the Lord.

And the part that is not up to you? Well, true transformation comes thru the work of the Living Spirit of God. Every person who has put all trust and hope in Christ for salvation is given the gift of the Holy Spirit. The change that you are looking for in your life is a result of the work of God, the Holy Spirit.

There will be more on this in the future. This is a big part of what we will be looking at in 2011 at Grace. This is at the core of real Discipleship. And Paul says that this is how we are to worship God. I'll leave you with his words from Romans 12:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2

Dad Life....

For the dads out there... Enjoy.



Maybe God is moving on some of you to help us build a Men's Ministry at Grace. Why don't you let me know...

Living for Legacy

Everyone wants to be remembered. They want to make their life count for something. For the man (or woman) of God, it usually means that others would acknowledge your accomplishments which truly built up the Kingdom of God, the places you showed that you were a true disciple of Jesus Christ. Sadly, some people, in pursuit of recognition, end up dishonoring God. Rather than pursuing the honor and majesty of the Lord, they seek honor and fame for themselves. In so doing, they disqualify themselves from the prize… a legacy!

Yesterday, I had the honor and privilege of attending the memorial service for a true hero of faith, Dr. Jerry Young. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to meet the man. But I have spent the last two years getting to know a lot of people whose lives were impacted by his ministry at Grace Church.

Was Dr. Young a perfect man? Certainly not. No one but Christ is! Was he a godly man? I am confident that he was, based upon the testimony of others and the fruit of his labors at Grace. What I have gathered is that Jerry Young lived a life of dedication to the Lord, his family, Grace Church, and his country. He is remembered as a strong man tempered by genuine humility. And from what I can tell, he took every opportunity to lift up Christ our Glorious Savior, not himself. And this ability comes from a confidence in your own true worth, not in your personal accomplishments, but in your relationship with the Lord God. Peter wrote, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7). So, yesterday, we celebrated the legacy which Jerry Young left behind.

Earlier, I wrote that I never had the opportunity to meet Dr. Young. Well, “never” would apply only if everything he (and I) believed was a huge lie. But, because I am certain that our hope in Christ is right and true, I look forward to another opportunity, only God knows when, when I will be able to thank Dr. Young for his faithfulness and his legacy at Grace.

Communion of the Saints

This Sunday, our Grace Church family is going to gather for our complete, three-fold Communion service. For those of you unfamiliar with the Grace Brethren full Communion, it is comprised of three components which define the journey of our faith from beginning to end. It is a beautiful picture of and reminder of who we are as the people of God, the subjects of Christ the King.

Bread & Cup

The sharing of the bread and the cup are common to the assorted Christian denominations. They are a remembrance of the broken body and shed blood of our Lord and Savior. We remember, but do not mourn that historical event. It is a looking backward to the means of our reconciliation with Him and with each other.

Love Feast

At our full Communion service, we celebrate with a love feast. This can take many different forms; this time it will be finger foods. It is symbolic of our future hope, to be in fellowship with the King and His people at the consummation of all things, what Scripture calls the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. This look toward the full expression of God’s Kingdom, Eden restored, is the hope of our faith, that which motivates us to persevere through the brokenness of this present age.

Foot Washing

The component of our Communion celebration which seems to bother the most people is the foot washing ceremony. First, what it represents; then, why I think it bothers us.

Foot washing comes from John 13 where Jesus washed the feet of His disciples before the Passover feast, the one we refer to as the Last Supper. Other denominations point to the servitude of Christ in this event, that He gave us a model for serving others. We historically have emphasized the cleansing aspect. When Peter asked to be washed completely, feet, hands, and head, Jesus told him that he was already clean and only needed his feet cleansed (v.10). Both of these aspects are true and both are to be present among God’s people. Christ called us to do just He had done (v.15). He says that He has set an example for His followers. The point of foot washing is to submit ourselves to the Lordship of Christ. We are to be like Him, and He came to serve others. And while He has made us clean by His blood, we are to commit to helping one another remain clean.

But I think here is where we have a problem with foot washing. Some don’t want to deal with other people’s feet and most don’t want to reveal their filth. Of course, I write this as analogy, because most of us do more to clean our feet prior to foot washing than we do any other time of the year. But it is in our nature to live as rebels against God and His Kingdom rule. We may be willing to accept a weak, broken, dying king, one who was willing to sacrifice for us. We may even love the idea of returning to Eden and all that sinless creation and a benevolent rich man have to offer sojourners from the land of brokenness and pain and death. But do we really want the whole package? Do we want to learn to obey all that He has commanded (Mt. 28:20)? Do we want to expose our shortcomings to others? But King Jesus says that unless you submit yourself to His authority in your life, you can have no part of the bread and cup and no seat at the feast (Jn. 13:8).

So, I’ll see you at Communion at 6pm on Sunday evening. Bring your dirty feet. And bring your fellowship circle. Let us celebrate all that our King has done for us in the past that allows us to gather in His name. And let us look to the future when He will make all things right, giving us the greatest desire of our heart, HIM, trusting that we will also get everything else He created us to long for. And let us come prepared to enthusiastically say “Yes” to all He has planned and decreed for our lives up to that Day.

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations. Psalm 100

Why Taste of Grace?

Most of you have figured out why Grace Church and Connect need a ministry like Taste of Grace. I have sent out several emails explaining how ToG fits in with a missional approach to ministry. It also is a crucial part of our discipleship as believers and a church.

Stewardship: Stewardship is a HUGE concept in our faith. What will you do with the things God has entrusted to you? Will you squander blessings? Will you look to bless others?

Outward Focus: Churches tend to turn inward on themselves and distance themselves from their mission field. Outreach ministries keep our mission ever-before our eyes.

Christlikeness: Christ came ministering to the whole person. Christians tend toward a Platonic dualism, being concerned for the soul but not the body. If we’re to be faithful to Jesus commands and to be made into His likeness, we need to care for the whole person also.

Community: Grace Church doesn’t exist in a vacuum. We are part of a community. And our faith is built around the image of redemptive community, the church. Christ’s church is to have a positive impact on the world, not only from our perspective, but also from theirs. If Grace Church were to disappear, would the community mourn a tragic loss?

Here’s an Angel Food Ministries promo video I found on the Internet. It explains that food programs like ToG are for everyone. Take a look. Consider. And let’s talk…

The Genius of AND…

Americans, especially Christians, are known for their either/or reasoning. Something is either “this” or “that.” And usually, that means that we’re going to break down into an argument about which is “right,” and by implication, which is “wrong.” And that’s when the real fun begins. Once you have sides claiming that their solution is the only right one, you can go to war against other views.

This has been the case in the church for about a decade. There is a war that has been raging between how you do church, philosophically. The war is between Attractional church and Missional church. Put in action language, it’s a war between “Come and see” and “Go and be/tell” approaches to ministry.

Now, no one would argue that the church is not to be missional. As I preached on October 24, we are to be a sent people, ambassadors for Christ witnessing about the person and work of Christ and about His Kingdom. But very few churches put their emphasis there. Rather, the trend of the last 30 years of church history has been upon building facilities and programs designed to attract people to our Sunday morning gatherings. See the tension?

Look at the connection process. One model says “Come here to our space, believe what we believe, act like we act, and then you can be part of us.” The other says “You are so important to me and to God that I will go out and find you, entering into your world and inviting you to be in relationship with me/us in the hope that you will come to understand why we believe what we believe.”

And how you allocate resources in each of these models is very different. The key resource in the Attractional church is money since it is necessary to build better buildings and programs. The key resource in the Missional church is people, and effort is placed on helping them to understand their calling to the mission field and then on encouraging and empowering them to act.

But this week, I’m headed to the AND Conference in Indiana. The AND Conference is a conversation about how BOTH of these methods have tremendous value for the church and God’s Kingdom. It’s a conversation about how you live and minister in the tension between two very different philosophies of ministry. And I’m not even sure that there is a totally right or totally wrong answer, but I’m hopeful that the conversation will lead to deeper thought, prayerful reflection, and lively discussion about what God wants from His people at Grace Church. This is a great experience for folks who find themselves in “white space.” And inspired by the message of yesterday, I look forward to being open to the skillful hands of the Potter as He shapes me, my brothers, and our church… Yes, even in Indiana! ;o)