Incestuous Relationships in the Church

Sound like a tabloid expose’ on yet another church scandal?  This one is even more rampant than our Catholic brothers’ troubles.  However this insidious problem is flying below the radar and hasn’t even been detected by most involved.  Let me explain.

When Jesus prepared to leave His disciples, He commissioned them to reproduce, to make other disciples (followers) by teaching the way that leads to everlasting life that Jesus came to secure.  The pattern set forth was relational.

Now think of what is commonly practiced in church settings of all varieties in our day.  We have perfected the art of program driven relationships.  Members are minimally expected to gather once or twice a week at corporate events. It’s not uncommon for more high-impact congregations to expect their followers to additionally attend a small group once or twice a week. 

Evangelism has morphed to an event planned for a Saturday outreach into a targeted neighborhood. A“witness” is something you “do” (or feel inferior if you don’t do).  That’s not at all what Jesus had in mind.  He said in Acts 1:8 that we are to “be” witnesses.  Our everyday life brings Jesus in very close proximity to people who desperately need the savior.  In our lifetime, some have fought to keep the Ten Commandments out of our public schools and buildings.  No one is stopping us from bringing Jesus in to those places, they can’t.  Where we go He goes.

Typical believers are busy gathering with other believers to “do” religious things.  That’s program-driven community.  Who’s reaching out to the lost neighbors on our own street?  The church at large is preoccupied with an incestuous relationship with each other while lost outsiders are entering a Christ-less eternity right before our eyes.  Friends “these things ought not to be so.”

Most people I meet are busy; they’re not looking for one more demand to be put on their plate.  Many people I see do know the loneliness of wondering if anybody cares they exist.  The masses that followed Jesus didn’t do so because there was nothing better to do.  He touched them, spoke life into them, it felt hopeful and they followed Him.  Do you think His approach just may have been intentional?

Sunday morning is the most segregated time in America.  Insiders separated from outsiders, believers from unbelievers.  For those who venture inside the church doors, parents go one way, youth another (sometimes split again by gender) and the littlest children yet somewhere else.  I understand the concept to deliver truth that’s age-appropriate, but that doesn’t exempt the church from taking that same truth outside wherever hurting people are.

When I brought our core team to Crystal Lake last summer to survey the city, we went 2x2 on that Sunday morning to as many churches as we could, to get a pulse for the spiritual climate of the area.  We experienced a lot that morning.  Two of our young gals attended a small church meeting in a hotel setting.  After the service there were cookies set out, it was a great opportunity to meet people.  These gals were hoping to make a connection.  What they experienced was not only silence, but as the church goers talked with each other, they rotated their backs to these obvious “new people” so they could enjoy each other’s company.  The “norm”?  I hope not.  The “exception”?  I fear not.  Why?  “Because it’s Sunday, I already went out evangelizing with the church Saturday.”

“Christianity is not a religion it’s a relationship”.  Heard that one?  Oh, you mean with “other people” too?  What a concept, “be witnesses unto me”.  You are bringing Jesus in very close proximity with people every day.  Can they tell?  Are you wetting their appetite for the savior?  Or are you presenting a cloistered community called church, which they hope to avoid?

I double dog dare you to go visit a new church Sunday.  See what it feels like to be an “outsider”.  Maybe it will change the way you see and relate to people you don’t yet know.

Does The Bible Really Say That?

The scripture in John.5:22 clearly says "The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son". In Acts 5 regarding Ananias & Sapphira, the Holy Spirit intentionally did not mention judgment, though some might draw the conclusion. I think we need to be careful not to draw conclusions where the Holy Spirit clearly omits details or words. What we do know about those two is this; Vs.3 says their issue was the effect of "Satan filing their heart" which let them think they could get away with lying to God. We don't know their age or health, only that they were likely mature and well off enough to own land and pretend to give its whole value to ministry. The shock of the unexpected exposure of his heinous crime of lying to God Vs. 5 says, caused them each to "fall down and give up the ghost." Usually the grief of gross blatant sin wears on the conscious of a man till the restless tormented individual's health finally fails and they die a sad withered death. All we know was the news was so serious that "great fear" came upon everyone standing by. It might have been so great as to stop the liar's heart. We don't know more than the scripture records. We know from John.3:16-17 it was not God's plan to send Jesus to condemn the world but His great love that sent Him to save whosoever would believe in Him. If a person rejects or refuses to believe the grace of God, they place themselves under the law. So we can not say God judged them, but they fell under the law of "bearing false witness". Regarding the improper irreverence with which some Corinthians observed the Lord's supper; the words "judge" & "judgment" are mentioned several times. The  sickness and premature deaths some Corinthians experienced, Paul said, were because those people "ate & drank in an unworthy manner, not discerning the Lord's body." Jesus bore stripes in His body to pay for and provide healing for man. Even today, some people suffer chronic illness or die prematurely because they don't discern their healing is in Jesus' body. The passage does say we would NOT be judged if we would judge ourselves (1 Co.11:31). There are actually two different Greek words used in that verse. Half of the translations translate both words as judge. The other half make the distinction. The first Greek word means to discern and separate. The second is best translated judge. If we discern sin in our life and deal with it appropriately, we "would not be judged". If a person fails to discern the body of Christ, fails to "do this in remembrance of Jesus" they place themselves under the jurisdiction of the law. The judgment demanded of the law was met in Jesus Christ. He paid the price in full, once for all, and redeemed us from the curse of the law. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. V32 says that "when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord." It doesn't say we're judged by the Lord. We're judged by the law and chastened by the Lord. Chastened (in the Greek) means to train up a child by a parent. Being trained by a loving dad should be an entirely different experience than being sentenced by a judge. If I jump out of a tall building, my hurt will be because I came under the law of gravity, not because God was punishing or condemning me. Our preconceived ideas, or assumptions, can place the consequences of our actions on God rather than realizing the onus that falls on man for failing to believe and place himself under the amazing Grace of God. Hope this sheds some light on just how good our God is toward us.

God Isn't Judging You!

I have heard it said in Christian circles that "if God doesn’t judge America He is going to have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah."  Give me a break.  Just because something sounds edgy, or is repeated all over, doesn’t make it true.

First of all, God won’t judge America, or you, and He certainly will never apologize to Sodom.  God patiently acquiesced while Abraham negotiated the threshold down to ten righteous.  God probably would have spared Sodom if Abraham pressed the number even lower.  There are more than ten righteous in America.  But the absolute truth is John 5:22 says God doesn’t judge anyone!  He has deferred all judgment to Jesus.  Jesus said in Jn.12:47 “I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.”

Ro.3:23 is a well know verse, especially to those who have been trained in evangelism.  “All have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God”.  Did you notice there are two different tense in that verse?  “Have sinned” is past tense.  Because of Adam and Eve’s sin, all people are born in a sinful condition, “there is none righteous, no not one.”  And we “fall short” is present tense.  Even after we confess our sin and enter into a right relationship with God by Jesus Christ, we still make mistakes.  Jesus doesn’t go to the cross again, it’s finished.  So what now?

V.25 continues by saying that God made Jesus to be the “propitiation by His blood."  That esoteric term means an act of graciousness.  It further refers to an item called the Mercy Seat.  When God instructed Moses to fashion the Ark of the Covenant that contained the two stone law tablets, He told Moses to fashion a solid gold lid called the Mercy Seat.  God then said that whole item would be referred to as The Throne of God.

Under the old covenant law, once each year the high priest would offer an atonement sacrifice for all the people’s sin.  He would sprinkle the innocent blood on that gold Mercy Seat.  It provided a “covering” for one year, and then it had to be repeated, year after year.

Jesus, the Lamb of God, shed His blood once for all – all time, all people, all sin.  The bible says in Hebrews 4:14-16 that our high priest, Jesus, is now seated at the right hand of God.  We are invited to come confidently to His throne of Grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help when we need it most.

We will indeed all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.  The law will demand payment for our sin. The righteous judge Jesus will say “I am the propitiation”, I have paid the price in full for them.  Mercy triumphs over judgment because of the blood of Jesus.  Not because of anything you have done or have managed not to do in your lifetime.

You can hear a full teaching on this topic with expanded insights at our website www.TheWellatCL.com just click on “podcasts” and select “The Original Jesus”.  He's just that into you!  The extravagant, radical Grace of God really is Amazing.

Sinners in the hand of a Good God!

The best, most loving dad willingly sacrificed His only son to utter rejection, humiliation, torture and ultimate death to save an ungrateful, hell-bent people, and He is often billed as “an angry God”. Go figure!  God so loved the world that He gave Jesus.

Papa has been so misrepresented by His representatives because they fear He’s too good. Just like Jonah, they’re sure He’ll forgive people and they won’t appreciate Him. So they malign His character to portray an angry God to make people too afraid to sin.

Wow, that approach has been an utter failure.  There hasn’t been a single righteous person since creation save the Lord Jesus Christ.  Turns out the rules, laws and regulations lathered on by religious people have actually done the very opposite, they have actually given sin its strength (1 Co.15:56). 

If you board an aircraft bound for Poughkeepsie, you can obey all the rules like a good passenger.  You can hope and believe that if you’re good enough the pilot will fly you to Disneyland because that’s where you really want to be, but guess what?  Forget the sun screen, you’re going to Poughkeepsie!

 

Romans 2:4 says it’s the “goodness of God” that leads to repentance.  Nothing irks pretty good people like God being good to people who don’t deserve it, but that’s His amazing, radical Grace.  That’s also what He knows really leads people to repentance.  Not rules.   Not fear.  Guess what, Father knows best.

Truth is, even “pretty good” people need God’s Grace, every bit as much as the “notable sinners” the Bible mentions.  I am against sin and ungodly living, and I am all for holiness.  I believe the way you get there is the way Jesus provided by His finished work on the cross.

Fear can get people to alter their behavior while the fear is present.  That’s “behavior modification”.  God chose goodness knowing a heart flooded with His love produces transformation from the inside out that is lasting, whether the person is in a loving environment or a loveless setting.

Fear preaching like “sinners in the hand of an angry God” may fill the altar with fearful supplicants, but Jesus is more interested in filling the Lamb’s book of life with the names of people He died to redeem.  What a good God.  He really is, just that in to you!

The Power of Prayer, a Fresh Testimony

We saw first-hand today in a meeting with other ministry leaders that prayer works. Before I share my exciting experience, humor me for a moment of background.

One of my main mentors in life was an elderly pastor who has since gone to be with Jesus. His whole life revolved around prayer. He taught prayer at a Christian University for many years. I had the privilege of learning much from this dear mentor.

One day I took a group from the church I was pastoring at the time, to a Grateful Dead concert to share Jesus. If you know me at all, you’re probably smiling knowing that was entirely out of my comfort zone.

As we walked through the parking lot, there were thousands of young people partying there, as many as were actually in the concert. It was dark, loud unpleasant music, the smell of pot hung heavy in the air, and there were many seedy-looking characters tail-gating.

We prayed our way through the masses, trying to witness to those we felt the Lord prompt us to. We approached a car with three young men drinking and smoking. They offered us their goods very openly.

As we asked where they were from, we learned they had driven up from the neighboring state. There was something different about one of the young men and I said “what’s your story, you have a gentle heart”? I wish I could show you the look on his face as he began to cry.

He told me his dad was a pastor, and he knew he shouldn’t be there. We hadn’t even introduced ourselves to them (though likely my most casual attire betrayed I hadn't come for the concert.) I’m sure his parents were praying for their son, and God answered by sending us right up to these three young men. They were self-convicted and packed up their party and headed home. Prayer works!

I mentioned the background to say I have a heart for prayer; I start and finish each day with prayer. Recently I have been blessed to assemble a group of people from around the country that I have met on Twitter. These are real people, serious about prayer, and they are praying for me and the new ministry we’re planting in Crystal Lake.

This group recently prayed for favor for us as we submitted a request to lease a facility for our new church plant. I received word last week that we had been preliminarily approved. Today we had a formal meeting with the leadership responsible for the building to discuss the lease terms. My friends have been praying for us today as well.
It is a beautiful facility in a high visibility location that is only a few years old, and is actually owned by another ministry. Clearly God gave us favor with the owners. We expressed our gratitude and told them we had been praying for them. The pastor looked at me and said “it worked”.

He went on to say he had made up his mind not to lease the facility to us. On Pentecost Sunday he said the Lord spoke to him and told him they were supposed to let us have the building. The pastor was
able to say this with a friendly smile on his face.

Clearly God opened a door man had determined to close. God also gave him a cheerful heart in his ultimate decision. I am convinced this was a direct answer to my new world-wide Twitter prayer team to whom I say a great big thank you.  I appreciate you, and I love you in Jesus. God has blessed me with praying friends, prayer partners.

For the Birds

Pamela and I enjoy sitting out in the garden courtyard on pleasant mornings like today. It’s a great place to spend quiet time with the Lord and each other. Plus seeing the birds, fish and turtles enjoying their habitats is calming.

Today before I sat down I put fresh water in the bird bath. As I was reading I watched a few birds land at the bird bath a few feet from me. They would each look at me for a moment as if to say “is it OK if I use this”? Then they would proceed to enjoy a bath.

From my perspective, I placed the bird bath there for them to enjoy. I keep it filled with fresh water, mostly for their enjoyment. I say mostly because actually they could bath in the lake, but I thoroughly enjoy their presence and seeing them happy. Furthermore, I have a child-like belief that since God’s eye is on the sparrows, He sees me caring for them as well.

Today it crossed my mind that is how our heavenly dad feels about us. When we enjoy His abundant daily blessings, we’re not taking advantage of His goodness, we’re blessing Him back. He loves it when we draw near to Him and refresh ourselves in His presence.

The heart of this post is not for the birds, but you. No matter your age, how many times you’ve been around the block or how bruised, broken or tired you are, please hear this. God still has an awesome plan for your life, the hope-filled future you may have dared only to dream of. Be assured by reason you still have breath, that He is not finished with you. In fact He longs for you to step into position even more than you long to.

I don’t care if you totally surprised your parents starting your life in the back seat of a ‘57 Chevy, make no mistake, God was not caught off guard. He gave you your life, and it came after He had a purpose He desired to fulfill, and chose you to do it. Jesus has placed each of us here to impact this world in a specific way – to convey the heart of God in a unique way only you can.

Don’t be afraid of drawing close to Him. He has intentionally prepared a place just for you. No one can fill your spot; no one can hold you back, just you. Enjoy! He's just that in to you.

Perfection - or Forgiven. What are you aiming for?

I remember getting ready to stand up before a group of maybe 2000 people to preach at a pastor friend’s church when I had a brief talk with God.  It hadn’t been a great week. My relationship with the Lord still had an unhealthy component of “do” in those days. It’s one thing to have a crummy week all by your self.  It’s another thing to crash and burn in front of a large group of people that expect you to tell them what God has to say to them.

A minute before I was to preach I simply said “God I’m sorry I’m not perfect”.  It was a heartfelt comment with a slight spin. 

He & I both knew no one would confuse me with perfection, especially “that” week. 

Though I meant it, I probably wanted to show contrition so He wouldn’t let me crash and burn in front of all those people.

I was not prepared for the quick fireside chat I encountered at that moment.  I heard the Lord speak in my spirit “So you’re saying that your perfection is better than the Blood of Jesus?”  No Lord that’s not what I meant.  Instantly I heard Him say “That’s exactly what you said”. 

My dad was a very hard working, extremely gentle Irishman. I have long said my dad wasn’t perfect, but he was the perfect dad for me.  I remember feeling that day as if God was speaking those same words over me.

In my short chat with my heavenly dad that day before preaching I realized an important truth regarding my relationship with God…..

 I would rather be forgiven than self-righteously perfect any day.

Growing in Grace I have realized my heavenly father isn’t being patient with me, He IS patient.  He can’t be any other way. 

That’s not trivial semantics.  Even the most patient person (like my natural dad) can at times loose their patience – but not God!  He does not want me fearing I am disappointing Him.  You may be disappointed when your restaurant meal doesn’t meet your expectations, but how can the God who knows everything ever be disappointed by unfulfilled expectations?  He always knows exactly what He’s going to get.

I have also come to realize forgiveness isn’t something I have to request daily.  I received His complete forgiveness the day I accepted Jesus Christ because Jesus paid the complete penalty for my sin (past, present, future). 

The chat with my heavenly father that day has brought such freedom in my relationship with Jesus.  I no longer help the devil beat me up with condemnation.  I don’t call myself condescending names when I have a bad day anymore. 

I get it now……

It really is finished.

I hope you throw yourself at the mercy of God and find Grace to help in your time of need (He.4:16).

He really is just that in to you.