And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light”

It sounds dramatic.

The earth, which was once formless and empty, is now full of light.  Light that guides and provides a path.  God even reminds the Hebrew people that he has placed a light with in them; they are supposed to be the light to the nations.

Now a man born blind is asking Jesus to be healed.  Imagine being blind from birth, seeing nothing but total darkness.  Jesus spit on the ground, made mud and put it on the man’s eyes.  He asked him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam and remarkably, he could see for the very first time.

Now imagine it, all you’ve known is darkness and you open your eyes, pupils dilated from darkness, only to see a flood of light coming into your eyes.  Imagine hearing the words of Jesus, “I am the light of the world.”

Today, just think about how remarkable that would be.

Yesterday when I saw this, for the protection of the child, I called the police.  But inwardly I was grieving for the man, he didn’t look like a guy who had gone off his medication, he looked like a guy who was desperate.  He looked like a man who had been deeply hurt.

Today with the Spanish pastor of our church we walked the community and prayed.  We know a lot of people from the community but there are still many more to get to know.  It struck us how gripped our community is with fear.  Almost every house has multiple large scary dogs.  Each house has a fence around it.  There were many homes with signs that said, “Keep out” or “no parking.”

Today I had the realization that this community (and many like it) for the sake of privacy has lost what it means to be neighborly.  When you walk this community, you don’t get the sense that these people have BBQ’s together or have block parties.  You get the very real sense that people are afraid and have locked themselves in their homes to feel safe.  I began to wonder if any of the neighbors actually know each other or want to, and I began to ask and dream.  What would it look like if people loved their neighbors in this community?  How would the quality of life change?  Would someone reach out to the man having an emotional break down?  Would the neighbors have come together to stop the man?

The saddest part about yesterday was that when I was on the phone with the police, they told me that there were multiple other callers, and there were plenty of people on their front lawns watching.  But this is the precise issue; we’ve become spectators in the full contact world of community.

When Moses was called to free the Israelites from Egypt, he was a bit intimidated at the task and he asked God, “who should I say sent me?”  In other words, “what is your name?” God answered, “I AM WHO I AM,” this can also be translated, “I will be who I will be,” meaning, “my nature will become evident with my actions.”  God led his people out of Israel and they grumbled.  They were upset that back in Egypt they used to enjoy sitting around pots of food eating their fill.  Now they were in the dessert far from home and hungry.  God did something to show his people that he loved them and he cared for them.  They woke up one day and a substance like frost was on the ground.  Moses had them collect it and make a kind of food out of it.  They ended up calling this substance manna, (probably from an Egyptian word meaning food).

Moses was later remembering the true meaning of manna. It wasn’t just food but it was a tool to teach God’s people that they do not live on bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God.  So manna was something that was a lot bigger than just food, it actually pointed to God in a powerful way, it fed them.  Moses was a great prophet, he even told his people that God would raise up another prophet and God even said that he will “put his words in his mouth.”  Because of this people were expecting a new Moses, and even a greater Moses.  The Jews were actually looking for this person to come and they expected a lot.  Some Rabbi’s even said that just as Moses rode out of Egypt on a donkey so the Messiah will ride on a donkey into his kingdom. The rabbinical expectation was that the messiah would bring new manna from heaven.

So this takes us to a point when over 5,000 people were following around a man named Jesus who seemed to be some kind of prophet.  All of these people were on the far shore of the Sea of Galilee.  Jesus asked his disciples how they would provide for the people.  The only thing that they could come up with was buying food but this miracle worker had something else in mind.  He would stretch out five loaves of barley and two fish to feed everyone.  I probably eat more than five loaves of bread every time I go to the Olive Garden.  Everyone was provided for and ate their fill.  Then Jesus made this ridiculous statement, “I am the bread of life.” He said that if you go to him then you would never go thirsty or hungry. Later on Jesus says that his “bread” are actually words and his words are, “spirit and life.” Peter remarked that Jesus has the words of eternal life.

In the feeding of these 5,000 souls we see the nature of God as one who speaks over his people and feeds them.  He is the kind of God that provides and gives life, but fullness of that life is contained in the words he speaks.  Jesus is the bread of life, give us today our daily bread.

The half-brother of Jesus, James says that the tongue is like a rudder of a large ship.  What we stay actually steers our life in a certain direction.  Jesus reminded his disciples that they would have to give an account on the Day of Judgment, “for every careless word they have spoken.”  Then he goes on to say, “For by your words you will be acquitted and your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36-37) I remember studying the book of Matthew with a friend and when we came across that passage we just sat and stared at each other.  We both like to make people laugh and have therefore said many careless words.

I think this is why it is so important that we worship publicly and proclaim what we believe.  It struck me when I was reading the gospels that Jesus would say, “go back and tell people what God did for you.”  They are just words, but they are words that guide and lead others into love.  They are just words that we sing but they remind me of God’s great love for me. Words manifest into emotion and action. This year as I have begun a journey to read through the entire Bible, again, I have noticed how prevalent this theme of words is.  It is amazing to me that God cares deeply about what we say to people and how we say it.  God’s words actually became flesh in the person of Jesus.  If your words became flesh, what would they look like?

Fred Smith once wrote, “I learned to write to burn the fuzz off my thinking.”  As it turns out, when I stopped writing for this period a lot of fuzz built up in my thinking.  It is hard for me to articulate clearly what I am thinking without writing it down first.  So in the coming weeks, days, months you can expect to see some more content gracing this page.

Since the passing of Pastor Gordon our Local Board of Administration at the church has turned into a search committee.  Their function has been to discern God’s will for our church and to interview, check references and most of all pray.  On Monday the 7^th the LBA offered me the position.  I am continually blown away by what God is doing.

On the 20^th of November our church will hold a vote.  If the church confirms the recommendation of the LBA then I have agreed to start full-time on January 1, 2012.  Thank you all for your continued support and prayer during this time.  It has meant a lot to my family and I.

Neighborhood Christian Fellowship is so much more than just me.  Over the years here I have seen people get called to ministry.  I have seen people make first time decisions to submit their lives to Jesus and I have been fortunate enough to marry, baptize and even bury some wonderful friends.  Neighborhood is a place that makes the gospel come alive in the way its members live their lives.  It is a little community that continues to be a beacon of light to a larger world.

I am so excited to begin this journey and I hope you will walk this road with me.  Thank you for your prayers and please, don’t stop.

A few weeks ago I had a major insight into great leadership traits.  We were talking about gentleness in leadership.  At first gentleness sounds a little weak and conjures up images of some dude getting walked all over in the office, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Gentleness is really about self-control. It is about using the power that you have in a controlled way.   Many leaders could tear someone to shreds with just a few words.  But sometimes restraining your power can have an even greater affect.

I was thinking back to a time when my Pastor (who passed away in September) asked me to have lunch with him one day.  This was a while ago so the details are a little fuzzy, but essentially I had screwed up.  Instead of letting me knowing it and laying into me he restrained the power he had, guiding me through a series of questions that helped me realize I had screwed up.

I appreciated this for a few reasons.  First, It kept our relationship strong and in tact.  Instead of being disciplined and running away with my tail between my legs, we engaged in a thoughtful dialogue on whatever it was I messed up on.  Second, it gave me a model on how to handle conflict and staff issues.  But the main thing I noticed is that the entire encounter was gentle.  There was a sense that power was controlled for the greater good.

I got to thinking about the encounters that Jesus had with his disciples and even the religious elite of the day.  He modeled gentleness in his humility but also in his encounters with others.  God with flesh on could have quite a bit of power, but even from the moment of temptation in the dessert he withheld his power.  Which brings me to this point; the greatest power you can possess is the ability to not exercise it.  Maybe power is found in restraint and self control rather than blatant exercises of power.

The problem with the leaders in the Arab world is that they have been ruling rather than leading, they have been using their positions to dictate that their will be done.  In governments legitimacy is king. You cannot hold your position for long without the people perceiving you as the actual leader.  Some leaders of nations have taken their positions by force, but their countrymen and women do not perceive them as the actual leader, thus the revolution spawns.  If you have to hold onto your position by force, chances are, you are not the legitimate leader.

This is a huge leadership issue.  Who is legitimate?  Who leads with persuasion rather than position?  This leadership principle transcends time and the leadership of just nations.  The issue of legitimacy is relevant in communities, work places and even homes.  Do you lead out of your title or do you lead out of your ability to inspire and walk with people?  Do people follow you because if they don’t there might be consequences, or do they follow you because of a level of trust that has been built up over time?  You can avoid an “Arab Spring” by leading out of your core values and integrity.

I grieved a little that they did not share in the suffering of the day.  There is something about sharing in suffering that changes your perspective.  There is something that unites, that gives people a view of what’s really important.  Mostly I grieved because I realized that there is an entire generation that will never feel what I felt as I sat paralyzed in horror in front of my TV that day on September 11^th.

I’ve learned that remembering is more than knowing facts.  Remembering involves feeling the pain of those whom we have a common connection with.  I’ve never felt people’s pain more clearly than I did on 9/11.  I’ve never felt more united with my fellow Americans than I did on that day.

The coming generation may never remember watching people in other countries burn American flags in the days following that horrific day.  Although some of the videos that the news was showing were shot months prior to September 11^th, there was still some celebrating.  I remember how sickening that was.  I wasn’t angry but simply disgusted.  It was obvious that the up and coming generation didn’t get this because a few months ago when Osama Bin Laden was killed, we saw people celebrating in the streets.  Although there is a legitimate cause for relief in people’s mind that Bin Laden is no longer with us, it highlighted that we didn’t remember the suffering that plagued that day.  When we celebrated the death of Bin Laden we just created a cycle of vengeance.  To some Islamic extremist 9/11 was a taste of victory, for many who were hurt the death of Bin Laden was the same taste.  If we keep going down this same road, it makes me anxious to ask, what will the extremist celebrate next?  Then, what will we celebrate after that?

I learned that de-escalation of conflict is difficult when you have a people full of pain.  I also learned that genuine love conquers that pain.  I learned that loving my neighbor means protecting them.  I also learned my neighbor serves Allah.  I learned that cycles do exist and we can encourage them or discourage them.  I’ve learned that the world is smaller than I thought.  I learned that my kids who were born 8 and 10 years after 9/11 would somehow need to know the story.  They will somehow need to feel my pain.  They will somehow need to engage the world in a loving way as to not perpetuate the cycle of destruction in a world that is already devoid of love.  The will need to remember the suffering of a people who were gone before they arrived.

Individualism isn’t all evil, it’s good to have an individual personality so one can stand on their own two feet.  It is extreme individualism that is killing our culture and harming public morality.  Extreme individualism is inherently selfish, community is inherently selfless.  Individualism leads to excess while community leads to generosity.

These might sound like bold claims but just think about the very simple task of going to the grocery store versus growing your own food.  At the grocery store you can buy one apple and meet your need, but if you lived in a village that grew their own food and you grew an apple tree, you can meet the need of many people in your community.

Here’s another example, and warning, this is going to sound liberal.  Why do you pay taxes?  Probably because you are compelled to by the IRS, but what is the thought behind taxes?  We all contribute to a government that will be for the common good of its citizens. (I know this is idealistic and there is a larger question about whether or not the government is faithfully stewarding the peoples’ resources, but humor me a little, will ya?) So the question I have is would you pay $50 more a year in taxes for our schools to improve?  For many of us that is an easy answer, we would say “absolutely no new taxes.”  I understand this mentality; really I do because I struggle with this.  So now that we have all voted “no” what happens to your local school?  Teachers get pink slipped, class sizes increase, the quality of education begins to diminish, the people with the means pull their kids out and send them to private school, thus reducing school funding.  Then what happens to the culture of the town where this school is going down hill?  Maybe the dropout rate increases, maybe crime and drugs become more prevalent in your community, maybe you start seeing prostitution, maybe the value of your home drops.  There are a lot of maybes in this scenario, but let me ask one more question.  Would you pay $50.00 per year to maintain the value of your home over the long term?

I realize that our government is polarized and seemingly useless right now, but I think our answers to the questions above say something about what we value.  Do we value community or do we value individuality? Do we act in the common good of society, or the common good of the individual.

I am thankful for my conversation with Chad, it went everywhere.  We talked about schools and taxes and even though you might think my senario is far fetched, it is what is playing out in his hometown of Indianapolis.  When we reframe our perspective from, “what is the best for me?” to “what is the best for my community?” then we take a jump from selfish to selfless from an individual perspective to a communal one.

It is interesting to note that Jesus has a solid plan for taking care of the poor.  It is called community.  It is called jubilee.  It is called generosity.  Some people call it love in action or incarnation living.  It is called the church, or the community of redemption…But what happens if that institution too has become individualized?

Lately I have been thinking through the relationship between the church, the people and the government.  Churches have always taken stands in the context of history, and in the context of history the church and state were more closely tied.  However, the secular state is somewhat new.  Over the time of recorded history there has almost always been some sort of religious system attached to the governance of the people.   The laws and ordinances usually reflected the values of the deity of the state. The secular state draws its values from tools such as the constitution or laws.

So in the secular state there is a tension that emerges when people have different value systems.  They want to push their value system on the state. Among the different flavors of Christianity some churches begin to look less like Christ and more like a particular political party.   When one church gains a reputation for looking like a political party, then guess who will never step foot in that church?, Probably members of the opposing party.  I remember in college, Campus Crusade for Christ sponsored a question wall, which each student was allowed to post questions.  One question read, “Does God hate Democrats?”  While entirely untrue, the perception was that the Christian God is a Republican.

Many Christian leaders who engage the political have some amazing beliefs and thoughts, they have great intentions. However great these intentions are, we need to ask the larger question about what are we doing to the community?  Are we ushering in a culture of polarization?  In which way are we introducing political discourse, are our conversations “seasoned with salt” and covered with grace?  Is it a “my way or the highway” conversation? Are we dividing instead of uniting?

Certainly there are issues, which are near to God’s heart.  Certainly we have to protect the poor, the widows and orphans, we need to defend the cause of the fatherless.   We have to be political because after all we are by nature political animals.  But how will we use it?  What will the tone of the discourse be?  Will we be known for our love, or something else entirely?

I wonder if these dads know the anger that their kids have.  I wonder if these dads realize that they are getting their kids off to a tougher start than others.  I wonder if they realize the affect on their child’s sexual identity or I wonder if they realize the lifetime of hurt they have caused.  I really wonder these things because like I said, I work with these kids, not dads who abandon them.

This weekend I found out that some friends were going through an adoption process, it didn’t really click to me until I got home but one of the ways that God is described is as a father to the fatherless. (Psalm 68:5) In the New Testament it says that we are the sons and daughters of God and that we are adopted into his family.

I always thought of the impractical nature of, God as a father to the fatherless,  “You should meet my dad, he’s so metaphysical!”  Children need a hand to hold, they need a face to grab, and they need to see the reality of their father in their lives.

It is so heart wrenching to see these kids and their issues when I know what it is like to grow up with both parents who were fully present.  God as father to the fatherless is a nice thought but not too practical, unless you think that you might be the physical extension of God’s hand into a child’s life.  God could be calling you to be the physical reality of a spiritual adoption.   What if God’s solution to abandonment and fatherless kids are adoptions and mentorship’s?  What if you are God’s solution?

Lucy is now six months and a little more difficult to please.  She doesn’t buy into the Dr. Star fanfare.  Lucy sleeps fine for all of her naps, but to go to sleep at nighttime she wants to be held.  She wants to feel the love.  I know it’s okay to lay her down for the night when she stops rubbing my arm and face.  When I hold Lucy before she goes down I get the sense that all she wants in the world is to feel her father or mother. She simply wants to know that she is loved.  Sometimes when she is crying all I have to do is rub her back and she is better.

This all got me to think that there are times in our lives when life is difficult or we feel pain.  During those times we just want to reach out and be comforted.  Just like the women who had been bleeding for twelve years who took a risk and reached for Jesus.  Just like Peter as he began to fall through the water and reached out for Jesus.  We all have that innate grasp that reaches toward the heavens in times of trouble.  But I guess the question is who or what are you reaching out to?  When times get tough, what is your first instinct to reach toward?

When God said, “Behold, I am making all things new,” I think Nancy got that in a deep way. She exemplified this verse by taking the broken and run down and breathing new life into it.  It was more than a job; it was the most natural thing for her to do.  I look back at her life in awe of the way that God wired her.  I wish I could see potential in things the way Nancy could, the way that God does.  Whether she was aware of it or not, the way Nancy looked at an old sofa that deserved to be thrown in the trash is the same way that God looks at us.  I would just throw the sofa away, but Nancy would have re-imagined it and given new life to the once broken sofa.

The way she lived illustrated God’s grace, I’m not kidding I broke her jet ski one time and she and her husband Todd just laughed about it.  I still owe them a throttle. The kid who should have paid for the Jet Ski part, the sofa that should have seen the trash, have an element of new life because of Nancy.

Will you epitomize the gospel with your life?   Will people say, she/he lived and breathed redemption? When all is said and done will others have felt the warmth of God’s grace because of the grace that you have extended to them?

http://nancygauntlettmemorial.wordpress.com/

The town of Laodiciea had a lot of similarities to North Korea.  They were a self-sufficient city.  They were well known for their city being destroyed by a massive earthquake.  The city rebuilt without any government aid.  They bragged about their wealth and they loved the fact that they could take care of themselves.

Most of the churches that are talked about in revelation have the same problem.  They take on the image of their community rather than the image of Christ.  The church in Laodiciea was so self reliant that they stopped needing Jesus.  Jesus famously scolded them because they cut themselves off from Christ the same way they were cut off from their water supply.   Their water supply was six miles away and by the time it was piped in it was it was dirty and lukewarm.  Jesus gave the line “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot, I wish you were either one or the other.”  The geographer Strabo, once rephrased Jesus’ words like this:  “Were you hot for bathing or cool for drinking, you would be useful; but as it is I feel toward you the same way you feel toward your water supply, you make me sick.”

Not only were they so cut off that when it came to the church services Jesus was literally knocking at the door asking to come in.  In a seminary class a professor once asked us to list everything our church did.  Then the professor asked us to suppose that there was irrefutable evidence that showed that Jesus wasn’t real, which programs would survive?  The sad answer was that we could probably still run everything, although we shouldn’t.

So in terms of “what makes a good church?” Laodiciea tells us that a church that is Christ-reliant is a good church.  A church that is not cut off from its source of life is a good church.  The temptation to do it all yourself will often leave you isolated and cut off from your source of life.

Haiti and the first century town of Philadelphia have a lot in common.  Philadelphia was a city that was very seismically active.  The entire town was often fleeing the city and then returning.  The town was characterized by fear.  The town also was a cultural center, setup to export Hellenism to the rest of the world.  The early Christians in Philadelphia were also subject to a fair amount of persecution.  However, in this letter Jesus praises this church more than any other.

This church suffered, it overcame, but mostly, it wasn’t afraid.  Unlike all of the other churches we’ve looked at, this church remained counter cultural and did not take on the fear that the rest of the city had.

One night Jesus’ disciples were on a boat ride and it became stormy so they woke up their Rabbi.  They said, “don’t you care that we are going to die?”  Jesus responded with a question, “why are you afraid, where is your faith?”  I think I would have been with the disciples on this one; at this point they hadn’t experienced the resurrection.  But The point of Jesus saying this is obvious.  God is in control; if you believe that God is who he says he is then there is no reason to fear.

This church took the fear of others and turned it into an opportunity to share about the security of Christ.  This is a church that didn’t make decisions based on fear, they made decisions based on a God who was and is living.

The city of Sardis was built on top of cliffs.  It had only been attacked successfully two times in its lifespan.  A small team free-climbed the cliffs in the middle of the night and opened the gates while the city was sleeping.  An attack on Sardis was rare.  The church in that city was a reflection of the safety that the town enjoyed.  During the time that John wrote Revelation there is no indication that imperial worship was required, neither was there persecution for being a Christian.  The church in Sardis enjoyed an unusual safety within the walls of the Roman Empire.

What Jesus had to say should ring loudly in the ears of the American church. “I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.  Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die.” It is great to be a Christian in America.  You can give to your church and get a tax write off at the end of the year.  There is no danger of going to jail because of what you believe.  No one is going to hold a gun to your head and make you choose Jesus or not.  Life is good…we are safe.

But I am reminded of Jeremiah at the temple.  His message was, don’t think you’re safe just because you are at the temple, remember Shiloh?  But wait what happened at Shiloh?   At Shiloh the Philistines took the Ark of the Covenant in a battle.  The thought was, “we will be safe if we just take this into battle.”  They were conquered because safety can sometimes breed apathy.

When I played baseball a lot of times we would lose the game in the ninth inning when we were up by a number of runs.  We would just take the field and we thought that we already won it and taking the field was just a formality, our goal was to maintain our position.  Is that what church has become in America?  Taking the field in the ninth?  Have we become a church primarily concerned with keeping the structure in tact?  As I even write this there is a still small voice asking me when will you be ready to step out of your safe life?  When will you be willing to go to uncharted territory?

So what does a good church look like?  Maybe one who’s goal is not to maintain the structure of, “this is what we’ve always done,” Maybe one who is willing to innovate.  Maybe a good church rejects the safety that surrounds it and goes out on a limb each and every day.  Maybe a good church risks and prays.  A good church is humble, always knowing that God is in control and can remove them at the blink of an eye.

The resurrection is a promise for believers in Jesus but it also sheds light on a particular worldview.  In Thyatira many Greeks believed in what Plato and Aristotle developed as a kind of dualism.  That is body and Spirit are separate and you can do separate things to feed each of the needs.  This worldview leads people down a road of having two different and incompatible lifestyles.  This worldview can be particularly damaging in a church where the promise of Resurrection is all through the scriptures.  An understanding of resurrection communicates that the physical body and spirit as one and not two separate needs to be filled.  While Plato and Aristotle taught that the body was decaying and useless, the resurrection showed the importance of the body.

In the church of Thyatira there was a woman named Jezebel who claimed to be a prophetess and she led many astray.  All indications were that she taught the dualistic worldview of the time.  It seemed like a spiritual love of God and good doctrine and yet a physical and moral rebellion to God.  When you go down the Jezebel road of living you will eventually get to the place where you compartmentalize your faith and live two different life styles.

Thyatira was a town of trade guilds.  This was like the chamber of commerce except with religious rituals tied to them.  In order to do any business in this town you had to be a part of a guild.  The philosophy of a dualistic nature was convenient for these young Christians to latch on to.  If they could just have the attitude of, “what happens in the trade guild stays in the trade guild,” then they could do whatever they wanted. Apparently, Jesus wasn’t cool with this.

It is fascinating to note that this church faced a threat from within their walls and Jesus threatened to come take care of the problem.  So what does a good church look like?  I think its members look the same while conducting business as they do at church.  I think it’s members know that a belief in Jesus means more than  just a mental understanding.  I think a good church is fearless and bold because of their grasp on the resurrection promise.

Major thanks to: Daniels, T. Scott, Seven Deadly Spirits: The Message of Revelations Letters for Today’s Church.

A great read and a great historical and cultural resource

There was a town called Pergamum in the first century that was a political and religious powerhouse.  It was a part of the Roman Empire.  The town didn’t have great economic wealth but in order to gain political clout, the town would hold events that would reflect what Rome was all about.  To show the military power of their country they would celebrate violence by cutting off the hands of criminals and throwing them into the pit with wild beasts.[1] Imperial worship flourished in this town and if you were to walk into the town you would see statues all over representing the different pagan God’s.  On the top of a hill stood a massive monument to the god Zeus.  It was not easy to follow Jesus in this context.

In Jesus’ critique of the church in Pergamum he references an episode when Balaam taught the people of Moab how to seduce the Israelites.  Balaam didn’t teach them anything revolutionary, he simply taught the people of Moab to integrate the people of Israel into their culture of eating food sacrificed to idols and committing sexual immorality.  This reference is key to understanding what Jesus was talking about; the church in Pergamum began to lose its reflection of their creator.  The church didn’t look any different.  In essence Jesus was put on a shelf with the other god’s of the town and the church started to look like the empire not the King.

So it is in this context that I ask the question, what makes a good church?  If you were really to study the church in Pergamum I think you’d come to the conclusion that a good church looks nothing like the culture.  A good church is a counter cultural revolution.  An outsider should walk into a community of believers and notice that it is uniquely different, there is a love and generosity and kindness that is not found anywhere else.  An outsider should walk into a community of faith and see the reflection of the living God.  A good church should go out and reflect their creator to the world.  Are you in a good church?  Does your life reflect the one who has created you?

The church in Smyrna spawned out of a Synagogue because in the ancient world that is how the gospel was spread.  The Jews in the town enjoyed a special immunity.  They did not have to pay the annual tribute to Cesar and participate in Imperial worship.  So when the newly converted Christians were kicked out of the Synagogue they were no longer afforded the protection that the Jews had to offer.  Because of this, Smyrna became a town of persecution.  Yet this and another church are the only two that Jesus doesn’t rebuke.

In this context, what is a good church?  Jesus already praised this church, so what were its characteristics.  In our American culture when asked what does a good church look like we would probably hear a lot of things.  A children’s department like the McDonalds play area, a youth ministry of hundreds that goes from one trip to the next that is highly visible on school campuses, we might say a lead pastor who can preach with style and poise, who wears the right combination of skinny jeans, deep-v’s and caries an iPhone.  Our cultural response to this question might be one that offers a ton to the community; the worship experience is like going to one of the best shows.  But if you were to read Revelation 2:8-11 you might get the sense that a good church doesn’t actually have much to offer at all.  You would probably get the sense that a good church is faithful through much, offers little but is willing to give everything.

When we think of Smyrna the martyrdom of the bishop Polycarp comes to mind.  He was arrested on the charge of being a Christian — a member of a politically dangerous cult whose rapid growth needed to be stopped.

Amidst an angry mob, the Roman proconsul took pity on such a gentle old man and urged Polycarp to proclaim, “Caesar is Lord”. If only Polycarp would make this declaration and offer a small pinch of incense to Caesar’s statue he would escape torture and death. To this Polycarp responded, “Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and He never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” Steadfast in his stand for Christ, Polycarp refused to compromise his beliefs, and thus, was burned alive at the stake.  Before he died he prayed that he would be an acceptable sacrifice.  When he was thrown into the fire the account of his death was that there was an aroma of bread baking or of gold and silver being refined.

Does the materialism of our day stifle the witness of our churches?  Or are our churches willing to give it all and offer little?

Some historical information taken from, Daniels, T. Scott, Seven Deadly Spirits: The Message of Revelations Letters for Today’s Church.

The first church that Jesus critiqued was in Ephesus (Rev 2:1-7).  It was a community with great theology.  They were people who kept doctrine and they kept it strictly.  There is this inherit problem with keeping doctrine though, it’s easy to get stricter and stricter with keeping it.   In some churches this manifests into rules such as no makeup, no cards, no dancing, essentially add the word “no” before anything and that is what the church believes.  The problem with keeping doctrine so stringently is that it becomes what you fall in love with.

Jesus praised the church in Ephesus but he also rebuked them because doctrine became their god.   They had forsaken their first love.  A church that forgets the most basic thing like loving God will usually forget to love its neighbors.  So the question that I will be looking at in these seven posts is, what makes a good church? The first response to that question is a church that passionately loves God.

So if you’re a church leader or if you go to a church, ask yourself what makes a good church?  How would Jesus view my church?  Are we an Ephesus?  Have we lost our first love?  Does your church love Jesus, or are they really good at keeping doctrine alive?

For the last couple of weeks I have been reflecting on Harold Camping and the Family Radio folks who claimed that they knew when the church would be raptured and judgment day would happen.  In fact they claimed that, “The Bible guarantees it.”  The one verse that everyone spouted off to refute Camping is when Jesus said not even the day or hour is known.  While I agree with using this verse in this context my mind kept going back to the garden, back to the beginning.  These are the verses I kept thinking about in relation to Camping and his followers.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Genesis 3:1-5

I think one of the greatest temptations we face is to try and figure God out.  Isn’t that part of the reason Eve ate the fruit?  In one sense God is revealed in Jesus and in scripture, and we can get to know Jesus well through a relationship with him and participation in his narrative.  But in the other sense, when we begin to view God as a mathematical equation, something that can be figured out, I think we try to demystify or tame God, which is actually the bigger sin.  I’d love to use this latest dooms day prediction to remind myself and the body of Christ is that God is God and we’re not.

Striving for knowledge has been one of the greatest pursuits in my life. However, we must always keep the Apostle Paul’s thoughts in mind, “But now that you know God – or rather are known by God-“  Paul corrects himself mid sentence and reminds us that we can’t fully know God but we are fully know to Him.  We can see God revealed in Jesus but there is a level of mystery in Christ that we simply need to embrace.  This is a difficult challenge in a data obsessed world.  It’s hard to let Jesus be Jesus when you shove him in an equation and tell him to come back on a certain day.

Here are my notes from the broadcast today:

What are the top 2 mistakes you think most parents make and how can we fix them?

-They are afraid of their children and subsequently don’t take leadership over their family.

-They want to be friends with their kids…Stick to your guns, establish rules and keep them

If our teen is a Christian and is growing in their faith and relationship with Jesus, what can we do to help encourage them?

Model for them how to live

Ask them to teach you what they’ve been learning…

Look for the Gifts that God has uniquely given them and encourage them to peruse using their gifts

In a time of their lives when they know “everything” and parents know nothing~ how can we lead a teen who isn’t interested in Jesus or Church to the Lord?

You don’t.  Hopefully you built a strong enough foundation with your kid that they will trust you.  You don’t give up on them and your pray for them

What motivates teens?

Doing big things: Someone seeing their potential and putting it to use…Feeling important

What are your top tips for teaching teens responsibility?
Sound system example…They have to really own their life and they can’t take it lightly

When our teen REALLY screws up, beyond responding and not just reacting, what are your best recommendations for us to help them learn a lesson from this situation?
Help them feel the weight of what they did….DON’T fix it for them,,, allow them to suffer the consequences.

If its clear that they learned their lesson, don’t bring it up again.

What are your recommendations for guiding teens not to have sex? What should we do if we find our teen is engaged in this behavior?
We do want to teach our kids that sex is a great thing in the confines of marriage…

I think the best way to help keep your kids pure is to lay out your expectation and be bold to talk about it.  Help them to understand the gift of their virginity to their future spouse…

If you do find your teen engaged in this behavior, Take them to get an AIDS test, take them to get an STD test.  Have their doctor tell them the consequences…An OBGYN will show girls pictures of STD’s and a doctor will probably do the same with guys.  Chances are your teen won’t fully get the metaphor of marriage as God and the church but they will understand that God calls us to be pure

What are your recommendations for guiding teens not to drink alcohol or take drugs? What should we do if we find our teen is engaged in this behavior?

You should freak out a little but don’t freak out:  Obviously it depends how bad the usage is.

I think Teenagers are looking somewhere for a great story.  They want to be a part of something bigger than themselves…when parents don’t write that story, other friends will…So as a parent you have to be on the forefront, you have to be the chief story teller

For teens of divorced parents, in your opinion, what can the parents/step-parents do to make the most of the situation?

If they really care about the child then they need to put their differences aside and set times to do joint activities.

Think about Christmas and the constant shoveling around that a child with 4 or six sets of grand parents have to do…it is crazy there is no consistency…

A lot of parents need to swallow their pride and sacrifice for the best life for their kid…

Divorce can be cyclical in many families and I don’t think any parent wants that for their child so they need to give them the best chance to break that cycle

How can we get our teen to clean their room?
Tell them what you want, what are the consequences if they do…be consistent…The closer the family is the easier it will be to enforce the rule

What do teens want most from their parents?

Love. Your teen needs to come back to you and that is built on a foundation of love.

A good story…something they can be proud of and take on themselves…

Links:

Elevate Radio

Adam Kimber

Neighborhood Christian Fellowship

Girl 1: “Oh my gosh you are such an amazing singer”

Girl 2: “Really? I was thinking I might try to get on American Idol.”

Girl 1: “You should totally do that and if that doesn’t work out you could always get on The Voice.”

Girl 2: “You could totally do that”

My first thought, I’d love to meet these girls’ parents.  Admittedly, I was listening to this conversation in awe of the innocence of childhood, in remembrance of some dreams that I have left behind. However, I love that these girls have the freedom to dream. What they were saying is so ridiculous to a world of adults with nine to five jobs raising kids who are barley getting by.  They are clearly shooting high.

I hope my girls have conversations like this.  I hope they plot their lives out, and then realize that’s not really what they want at all.  I hope they dream huge and aspire to big things.  Even when they get a job that might not be their thing, I hope they never let go of their passion, imagination and ambition.

I want to be the kind of parent who encourages ridiculous dreams.  I want to be the kind of parent who invests in passions that only last a week. I want to be the kind of dad that teaches his kids to trust their imagination and to really know what they want so that they will one-day chase it down.  I want to be the kind of dad that teaches his girls that persistence and optimism is key to fulfilling your dreams no matter how crazy they might be.

Ever since I’ve had kids my new dream has been for them to be great.  I feel like I finally have a glimpse of how God loves his children.  I’ve always understood forgiveness but what I don’t think I ever understood before is the deep desire for good things for others.  I just want my kids to leave a mark and change this world.  I guess that makes Desiree and I, dream facilitators.

Dasa tells the story that she was in a church service and she felt God impressing on her that she should go comfort the person in front of her and tell them, “everything is going to be alright.”  Like most people, Dasa thought she was going crazy and she stayed where she was.  She kept getting this urge to comfort the person when suddenly a man who she didn’t know, came from across the room and put his arm around the person and whispered something into that person’s ear.  A second later the man turned and walked up to Dasa and said, “it’s okay I took care of it,” and walked away.

That story kind of freaked me out.  I have always heard people say that God calls people to do His work and if they don’t then He’ll raise someone else up.  This story makes that idea pretty clear.

But have you every consciously tuned someone out?  Maybe in a staff meeting or at home, you just consciously started thinking about something else and you stopped listening?  I think if we stop listening long enough then we will become selectively deaf.  My Aunt’s sister Dasa got a huge reminder to listen to God and these days she doesn’t get around much and listening is what she spends most of here time doing.  I was reading the Sermon on the Mount the other day and Jesus said not to go on babbling like the pagans do but to go to a quiet place and pray.  Many scholars think that Jesus was referencing to this line in the Torah when he said that, “when you address the Holy One, Blessed be he, let your words be few.” (B’arkhot 61a). The story is a reminder to allow you to hear God.

My question is, if we stop listening, are we then setting our selves up to become deaf to a God who whispers in silence?   When you think about it, that guy you tune out when your wife is talking but the TV seems to be louder, or when you simply faze someone out, we are training ourselves to become deaf.

There are many useful classes and skills that you can find on listening.  Many lecture and write books, articles and blogs about listening, but what are the consequences if we stop listening?

Who have you made the effort to stop listening to?  When was the last time you listened to God?  When was the last time your words were few?  I wonder if this is why Jesus always walked around saying, “he who has an ear, let him hear.”